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Anne Bradstreet: 1612 – 1672: Anne Bradstreet (born Anne Dudley; March 20, 1612 – September 16, 1672) was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first female writer in the British North American colonies to be published. She was also a prominent Puritan figure in American Literature. Her first volume of poetry was The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, published in 1650. It was met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World. As a younger poet, Bradstreet wrote five quaternions, epic poems of four parts each (see works below) that explore the diverse yet complementary natures of their subject.[8] Much of Bradstreet's poetry is based on observation of the world around her, focusing heavily on domestic and religious themes, and was considered by Cotton Mather a monument to her memory beyond the stateliest marble.[9]Long considered primarily of historical interest, she won critical acceptance in the 20th century as a writer of enduring verse, particularly for her sequence of religious poems "Contemplations", which was written for her family and not published until the mid-19th century.[10]Bradstreet's work was deeply influenced by the poet Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, who was favored by 17th-century readers. Nearly a century later, Martha Wadsworth Brewster, a notable 18th-century American poet and writer, in her principal work, Poems on Diverse Subjects, was influenced and pays homage to Bradstreet's verse. Despite the traditional attitude toward women of the time, she clearly valued knowledge and intellect; she was a free thinker and some consider her an early feminist; unlike the more radical Anne Hutchinson, however, Bradstreet's feminism does not reflect heterodox,antinomian views.[11] Based on her poems, Bradstreet could also be considered to be a complementarian. In 1647 Bradstreet's brother-in-law, Rev. John Woodbridge, sailed to England, carrying her manuscript of poetry. Although Anne later said that she did not know Woodbridge was going to publish her manuscript, in her self-deprecatory poem, ""The Author to Her Book"", she wrote Woodbridge a letter while he was in London, indicating her knowledge of the publication plan. Anne had little choice, however— as a woman poet, it was important for her to downplay her ambitions as an author. Otherwise, she would have faced criticism for being "unwomanly."[12] Anne's first work was published in London as "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, by a Gentlewoman of those Parts"

The purpose of the publication appears to have been an attempt by devout Puritan men (i.e. Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, John Woodbridge) to show that a godly and educated woman could elevate her position as a wife and mother, without necessarily placing her in competition with men. Very few men of that time agreed with that belief. Mistress Bradstreet endured and ignored much gender biasduring her life in the New World.

In 1678 her self-revised Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning was posthumously published in America, and included one of her most famous poems, "To My Dear and Loving Husband".[13] This volume is owned by the Stevens Memorial Library [3] of North Andover and resides in the Houghton Library [4] vault at Harvard. A quotation from Bradstreet can be found on a plaque at the Bradstreet Gate in Harvard Yard: "I came into this Country, where I found a new World and new manners at which my heart rose."[14] Unfortunately the plaque seems to be based on a misinterpretation; the following sentence is "But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I submitted to it and joined to the church at Boston." This suggests her heart rose up in protest[15] rather than in joy.

Analysis: Anne Bradstreet based "Verses Upon the Burning of our House" on a true experience: the Bradstreets' home did actually burn down. The poem is made up of rhyming couplets. This form expresses tension between the poet's attachment to earthly things and her awareness that she is supposed to dissolve her ties to the world and focus on God. The poem begins with the poet going to bed, not expecting anything terrible to happen in the night. Unfortunately, cries of "Fire!" wake her, and she has to run outside. She then sees her house burning, taking all of her worldly possessions with it. Once she sees that she cannot do anything to rectify the situation, she tries to reorient her thoughts, saying that she blesses Him who is taking from her, and "laid [her] goods now in the dust." She accepts that everything she owns belongs to God, and she chastises herself gently for forgetting this fact. She reminds herself that He can take anything he wants from His children at any time. Despite her exhortations to herself, the next lines reveal the poet's ambivalence about relinquishing all of her possessions to God. She describes being filled with memories every time she passes the property where her house once stood. She remembers the trunk and the chest, and everything she "counted best." All of her "pleasant things" are gone. There will be no dinners or visiting guests or conversation around the table. Candles will not shine in the window, and no bridegroom's voice will ever be heard. In these lines, Bradstreet not only expresses her attachment to her home, but also to the memories that occurred within it. She tries to shake off this mindset by reminding herself that "All's Vanity," and that she has an even grander home, built by God, waiting for her in Heaven. This new home will be permanent and not subject to fire or any other vicissitudes of earthly existence. She bids farewell to her home and reminds herself that her "hope and Treasure lie above." Despite the poet's last words, critics believe the she is not as reconciled to her loss as she suggests. Her despair is manifest. Her home has been profoundly important to her, not only for the possessions it housed but because it was a symbol of her entire life with her husband and children. It was the seat of her role as a woman. Critic Kenneth A. Requa identifies the house as an "emblem" with which the poet has developed an emotional relationship; "the poet finds that the house-fire has emblematic significance: from it she can learn that only one home should have meaning for her – the heavenly mansion." Robert J. Richardson agrees with Requa's point of view, writing, "The human level – the fear of fire, the sense of loss – is what genuinely moves the poet, while her submission to the will of God is a somewhat forced acknowledgment of an arrangement that is not really

satisfactory." Overall, Richardson believes, "the sense of loss outweighs, at least at times, the potential comfort promised by Puritan theology." This is not supposed to imply that Bradstreet displays a loss of faith or a desire to relinquish Puritanism, but it does reveal her humanity. She shows that she is a real person who feels doubt and sorrow and must be constantly be active in her faith in order for it to remain meaningful. Vanity of All Things This poem by Anne Bradstreet is about humans' desire for wealth and earthly possessions. In the poem, Anne criticizes humans for wanting more money and other objects when she believes that there is no point in acquiring more material objects. This is probably influenced by her religion. Anne was a follower of the Puritan religion, and like most religions, she was taught that owning many possessions would keep them out of heaven. This can be seen as a hypocritical attitude for someone who is a member of the noble class. Throughout the poem, the subject of finding happiness on Earth is constantly being searched. Anne asks poses the question to vain people on Earth: How many of them can say that they have found happiness through their vanity? She states that happiness cannot be found through being famous and honored, because that will wear off after the person dies or the person could be hurt because of their fame. In line 14, having lots of riches is compared to "grasping the wind" of happiness. Line 15 continues the idea that people with lots of money can only keep themselves happy for a short amount of time. Throughout the rest of the poem, many different places are searched for the "consolation" of life - the thing that makes life bearable and brings us happiness. She states that happiness is not found in beauty in line 17, because even people who were beautiful once just get ugly when they age. Anne says that happiness can not be found in youth because during that time people are just prone to vice, or being vain of themselves. According to line 20, people also can not find consolation for their lives by being old because "they are prone to rage." Lines 21-26 are questioning if people can find satisfaction within their lives through education. However, Anne says that only vanity and confusion are to be found there. Educated people during Anne's days were much more rare, and so they would feel much superior to those who are uneducated. Lines 25 and 26 state that even the smartest man in the world believes that he does not know enough. In lines 27-30, the poem asserts that the consolation to life can not be found by doing as stoics - people who do not show emotion when something good or bad happens - say. Lines 34-38 talk about a place where the solution to man's problems can be found - in which no person or animal has seen or set foot - and yet people question the existence of it. This is an

analogy for heaven, because no human being can know if heaven exists or not. Lines 43-50 describe the riches of this place that solves all of mankind's problems and is the secret to happiness. It provides men with honor that will never fade, money that never runs out, and youth, strength and wisdom that never decay. The final lines, 50-56, state that this place is an oasis, and whoever owns this awesome location will be king (or queen) of it forever. The last 2 lines assert that this place is the only thing that quells all of man's problems, and that Earthly things will only bring us vanity. In conclusion, this poem is a way for Anne Bradstreet to communicate her religious beliefs to everyone else. The poem talks of the troubles that accompany material belongings, and that the only way to solve one's problems is to reach a place analogous to heaven.

Edward Taylor: 1642 – 1729:

Huswifery Analysis “Huswifery,” written in the late seventeenth century, is perhaps the best known work of Edward Taylor’s poetic canon. It is meditational in form, one of several periodic exercises designed to place Taylor in a correct spiritual posture for communion with Christ, literally through the Lord’s Supper and metaphysically through a spiritual union brought about by faith. Almost always religious, Taylor’s poetry is influenced by the great English Metaphysical poets John Donne, George Herbert, and Richard Crashaw. Like them, he joined disparate fields of experience and often offered bizarre juxtapositions of images. “Huswifery” takes its unusual rural imagery not only from the primitive location of Taylor’s pastorate but also from his memories of his boyhood home in England, where he earned a living from the soil and perhaps sheared and spun wool as part of his daily labor. In his early youth, Taylor may also have been employed in the weavers’ shops of the nearby town of Hinckley. Edward Tayor’s “Huswifery” has numerous aspects of excellence as a well-crafted poem and a sermon of Puritan belief. For modern audiences no longer concerned nor familiar with the details of weaving, it stands as an earlyAmerican example of metaphysical poetry and the use of the poetic conceit. The term conceit, in literature, refers to an elaborate and surprising figure of speech comparing two things that are extremely dissimilar. That definition could apply to any metaphor, but when it is extended throughout a poem and involves highly abstract and elaborate correspondences, it enters the realm of metaphysics and passes beyond the definition of a simple implied comparison. The title is a word that was commonplace in the 17th century but has since disappeared from use except for a remnant in the negative term “hussy,” that denotes a lewd or brazen woman. In Taylor’s time, his title was pronounced with a silent “w” and a short “i” and sounded like “hussifry.” It denoted the full range of domestic tasks performed by Puritan housewives. In the poem, those tasks are narrowed to spinning and weaving. The tone of the opening sentence is prayerful. The poet says, “Make me, O Lord, Thy spinning wheel complete.” The succession of interrelated metaphors explains the poet’s intention in this odd-sounding request. Gradually we see spinning and cloth making as a figurative expression of the activity of the Master Weaver, who clothes people in grace. Each part of the spinning wheel is equated with an aspect of spiritual life. The distaff is a piece of wood on which is wound flax or wool that is spun into thread. It is metaphorically equated with the Word of God – the Bible – from

which we extract grace. The “affections” or emotional feelings are the “flyers” that twist and make thread from the raw material on the distaff. The “spool” onto which the thread is wound is the soul of the speaker. The “reel” that holds the finished thread is referred to as the speaker’s “conversation,” by which he means his social exchanges with others. Thus, in stanza one we see the mechanical progression of the word of God becoming the grace necessary for salvation. In the next stanza we proceed from spinning wheel to loom. On the loom the thread of God’s word is woven into cloth. God, who operates the loom, winds or turns the “quills” (hollow tubes onto which the yarn is wound) and produces a web of cloth from the myriad threads. God’s ordinances (laws and sacraments) act as “fulling mills” that cleanse the cloth and prepare it for dyeing and decorating with designs. In the concluding stanza the speaker asks God to garb or outfit him in raiment made from the newly spun and woven cloth. Once attired in this glorious garment, the speaker will be able to give God glory in return. Though some of the terminology rings strange to a modern ear, Taylor has created a poetic prayer for salvation couched in images readily apprehensible to an audience of his day. All dedicated Puritan ministers offer theeir lives in service to the Almighty, but few have the talent to do so with such ingenious poetry.

Upon a spider catching a fly "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly" by Edward Taylor is an allegory warning readers of the pitfalls of evil. Taylor (1642-1729) was a Christian Puritan minister and poet whose 

sermons and poems centered on righteous living. Puritans were known for their religious devotion and fear of Satan lingering around every corner. In his poem, Taylor uses the image of a spider catching a fly to represent Satan and his schemes to entrap men in sin. On the surface, the poem seems straightforward. The poem's subject is a spider, who weaves a web to catch his prey. A wasp lands on the web and fights ferociously to escape. The spider, knowing the wasp can sting, gently creeps and taps its back. When the wasp tries to attack, the spider retreats. Next, a fly is caught on the web. The spider quickly approaches the defenseless insect and kills it. The poem becomes more universal, and it explains that Satan tries to entangle man into his trap through sin. God, however, can easily break Satan's web and save man. Because of God's goodness and protection, man can live in joy, like a nightingale singing in a cage.

Structure 

The poem consists of ten stanzas, each with five lines. The first line of each stanza has

six syllables, the second and fourth lines contain four syllables, the long third line has eight and the last line has only two syllables. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, which denotes that the ending sounds on the first and third lines rhyme and the second, fourth and fifth lines rhyme. The poem does not always fit this structure, however. For example, in the last stanza, "high," "thankfully" and "joy" do not rhyme. 

Because this poem is a clear allegory, the creatures described represent mankind and the devil. The spider, described by Taylor as "Hell's Spider," clearly symbolizes Satan because

both weave traps for their prey. The wasp represents a person strong in faith who is ready to battle sin, as the wasp is able to escape. The fly embodies those who get caught in the web of sin and are eventually killed by Satan. The nightingale, a creature who eats spiders, appears at the end, singing in its cage. The nightingale symbolizes devout Christians, who are protected by God and living in glory.

Significance The poem is meant to teach a lesson to readers, which is clearly outlined in the sixth stanza. Taylor posits that a man should avoid the pitfalls of sin because he may not be strong



enough to battle temptation and fall. The wasp and fly demonstrate how some are ready to battle against sin while others are swallowed up by it and die. The image of a nightingale in "Glories Cage" reassures readers that God can and will protect men from sin. Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God (1741) "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is a sermon written by British Colonial Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts to unknown effect,[1] and again on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut.[2]Like Edwards' other works, it combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of the scripture. It is Edwards' most famous written work, is a fitting representation of his preaching style,[3] and is widely studied by Christians and historians, providing a glimpse into the theology of the Great Awakening of c. 1730–1755. This is a typical sermon of the Great Awakening, emphasizing the belief that Hell is a real place. Edwards hoped that the imagery and message of his sermon would awaken his audience to the horrific reality that awaited them should they continue without Christ.[4] The underlying point is that God has given humanity a chance to rectify their sins. Edwards says that it is the will of God that keeps wicked men from the depths of Hell. This act of restraint has given humanity a chance to mend their ways and return to Christ.[5] Most of the sermon's text consists of ten "considerations":

1.

God may cast wicked men into hell at any given moment.

2.

The Wicked deserve to be cast into hell. Divine justice does not prevent God from

destroying the Wicked at any moment.

3.

The Wicked, at this moment, suffer under God's condemnation to Hell.

4.

The Wicked, on earth - at this very moment - suffer the torments of Hell. The

Wicked must not think, simply because they are not physically in Hell, that God (in Whose hand the Wicked now reside) is not - at this very moment - as angry with them as

He is with those miserable creatures He is now tormenting in hell, and who - at this very moment - do feel and bear the fierceness of His wrath.

5.

At any moment God shall permit him, Satan stands ready to fall upon the Wicked

and seize them as his own.

6.

If it were not for God's restraints, there are, in the souls of wicked men, hellish

principles reigning which, presently, would kindle and flame out into hellfire.

7.

Simply because there are not visible means of death before them at any given

moment, the Wicked should not feel secure.

8.

Simply because it is natural to care for oneself or to think that others may care for

them, men should not think themselves safe from God's wrath.

9.

All that wicked men may do to save themselves from Hell's pains shall afford them

nothing if they continue to reject Christ.

10.

God has never promised to save us from Hell, except for those contained