Angeles, Jasper B.

III- HC English

Poem: To My Dear and Loving Husband By Anne Bradstreet

Questions: 1. Who is the persona? Who is the Addressee? The persona of the poem is a wife who is very confident and assured of her husbands love. She is very boastful by saying that her love cannot be fathomed by neither whole mines of gold nor riches that the East doth hold. The persona even more characterizes her love to be so great that it does not require compensation from her husband and surpasses even death. The addressee is explicitly the husband of the wife. The persona characterizes the addressee as someone whose love for her cannot amount to her love for him as stated in line Thy love is such I can no way repay.

2. What does the persona say to the addressee in the first two lines? The persona, in the first line, If ever two were one, then surely we., wants to tell the addressee that the notion marriage which combines two persons, gives them a reason to be in one mind and soul. On the other hand, the persona says to the addressee in line two that he is loved because she loves him.

3. What is the tone of the persona in lines 3 and 4? The personas tone is challenging and assertive with a brush of boastfulness. She challenges every women to compare her with them in terms of being happy with ones husband. She asserts that no one can compare to the happiness that she obtains out of her husbands love.

4. How does the persona view the love of the addressee? The lines, Thy love is such I can no way pay; the heavens reward thee manifold, I pray., gives us a hint that the addressee possesses an unrequited or love which cannot be compensated.

5. What is the paradox in the last two lines? In the line, Then while we live, in love lets so persever, the persona asks the addresses not to be sluggish in love while theyre still living. She adds that when [we] live no more, we may live forever in order to express that love surpasses even death that it will continue to live even though theyre not living anymore.

6. What are the roles, duties, and responsibilities of a Puritan woman? Puritan women were seen as domestic women and submissive to her husband. They were prohibited from displaying intelligence, wit, or even charm and passion. It is her duty and responsibility to take household chores and serve her husband and children.