Kelvin Fernandez

American Literature
Mr. Colago
09-5-13
Here Follow Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666
The 16th century gave way to a new religious lifestyle in which people that were
not members of the Catholic Church would search for religious freedom. In the midst of
this search for religious freedom were the puritans, a group of separatists that would
travel to the new world on a boat called the Arabella, where they would be able to
practice their religion with freedom and no restraints or penalties. In these travels a
Northampton, England born woman named Anne Bradstreet immigrated with her
husband and father, whom both were to become government officials in the new world
in the near future. Anne Bradstreet was a stay at home mom as was the nature of that
time; she would be known in modern day as the mother of American poetry. In one of her
poems, Here Follow Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Anne
Bradstreet uses literary devices such as alliteration, metaphor, and allusion in order to
describe how great God is and that everything that he does is just and right; we are not to
question his doings.
Anne Bradstreet was the young wife of Simon Bradstreet, a 25-year-old assistant
in the Massachusetts Bay Company, son of a dead Puritan minister, whom at his death
left Simon in charge of his ministry. Bradstreet was ill prepared for her voyage to the
new world and by miracle of God she was able to reach her destination all in one piece
and alive. At arrival some preferred to return to England, others died short after the

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arrival, but Bradstreets father and John Winthrop founded the Boston settlements
government with Thomas Dudley (Annes father) as Deputy-Governor, Winthrop as
Governor, and Simon Bradstreet as Chief Administrator. Anne contracted small pox
several times and by the hand of God she was saved, strengthening her faith more and
more each time God did one of his many miracles in her life (annebadstreet.com).
Alliteration is the commencement of two or more stressed syllables or word group
either with the same consonant sound or sound group (dictionary.reference.com).
Bradstreet uses alliteration in her poem in order to get across to the reader the importance
and affliction that she was feeling as she saw her new house and all its memories as well
as its representation of security being burned to the ground, reduced to a pile of ashes. In
line 5 Bradstreet says, That fearful sound of fire and fire, (Bradstreet, line 5) she
alliterates by repeating the sound of the letter if in the words fearful, fire, and fire again.
Bradstreet writes with this repetition with a purpose to show and express her pain and
how it was a constant and strong pain, something that was continual and hard to deal
with. By her description of the screaming of fire twice we can tell that it was a moment
that scarred her life, in which she would remember the chants and screams of fire. With
her alliteration Anne Bradstreet shows her physical attachment and grief towards what is
happening, but, this is brief, as alliteration only appears once in the poem, and then she
shows the aspect and thoughts of her Christian faith by saying I blest His name that gave
and took, (Bradstreet, line 14).
A metaphor in simple terms is a comparison without using the words like or as.
Bradstreet uses a couple of metaphors in the poem in order to relate to the reader how
everything seemed and felt in that moment. In line 42 Bradstreet compares a dunghill

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mist to the unclear vision or sight, as she was not clearly seeing the reason why this was
happening to her, when she says, That dunghill mists away may fly. (Bradstreet, line
42). Another example of a metaphor that Bradstreet uses to show and display that
moment is in line 44 when she says that her house was designed by the mighty Architect,
being a direct comparison between a mighty architect and God when she says, Frameed
by that mighty Architect, (Bradstreet, line 44).
Allusion is an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication
(dictionary.reference.com). The grand allusion in Anne Bradstreets Here Follow Verses
upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 is to Job in the Bible. Anne Bradstreet
being of Christian faith tried to maintain her faith while her house burned down. Anne
resembled Job from the Bible by saying that all that God did was just, and he gave
everything so he has the right to take it back. In the poem Bradstreet says, I blest His
name that gave and took, (Bradstreet, line 14) is an allusion to when Job said, And said,
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21). Bradstreet
maintains her strength in God by being and acting like Job did in the Bible when
everything was taken from him without explanation.
Alliteration, metaphors, and allusion are all used in Here Follow Verses upon the
Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 in order to show that God is just and right in
everything that he does, we are not worthy to judge. Alliteration are used in the poem to
describe and emphasize on Bradstreets feelings in the moment, metaphors are used to
paint a clearer picture as to what was going on, and allusion is used to show Bradstreets
reaction based on her Christian faith and how she reacted in comparison to a person in the

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Bible whom had this done to him, Job. It is important for humans to know this, because
there are too many people now a days focusing on material objects, rather than rejoicing
in God. Bradstreet teaches us that all is vain, and that all material items are useless when
it comes to eternity, and they are tools given to us by a God of mercy, but we do not
deserve these tools, they can and shall be taken from us.

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Works Cited
"Anne Bradstreet Biography." Anne Bradstreet. N.p., 22 Oct. 2002. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.
Bradstreet, Anne. Here Follow Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666.
London, England N.p., n.d. Print.
Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.
Johnston, Steve. Kjv Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Pub, 2003. Print.