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Emma Rosendale

Mrs. Storer

English 3 Honors American Literature

August 3, 2019

Life and Love Everlasting

God has a way of affecting everyone's life differently. In the poems, "Upon the Burning

of Our House" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband", the author, Anne Bradstreet, uses her

faith to shape her outlook on life. Bradstreet views her life on earth as the temporary part of

God's plan for her, while she looks at the afterlife as where she will have anything she could ask

for and find everlasting love.

Bradstreet views her life on earth as God’s plan for her until she goes to heaven. As

Bradstreet reacts to the burning of her house she says, "It was His own, it was not mine, Far be it

that I should not repine; He might of all justly bereft But yet sufficient for us left" (Upon the

Burning… Bradstreet lines 17-20). Bradstreet feels that she has no right to be upset about her

house because it was not her house in the first place, it was God's gift to her, and He had the

power to take it from her. This is all a part of God's plan for her and she accepts this. Instead of

being angry with God, she recognizes that although her house is burned down, she still has

everything she needs. Later in the poem, Bradstreet continues to reflect on her recent loss and

says, "Yet by His gift is made thine own; there's wealth enough, I need no more, Farewell, my

pelf, farewell my store" (Upon the Burning… Bradstreet lines 50-53). Bradstreet says goodbye to

her belongings, but knows she is not left empty handed. She recognizes that she still has enough

to get by and does not need anymore. She calls her wealth "His gift" which shows how she sees

her life on Earth as temporary. Bradstreet thanks God for her possessions on Earth because in

heaven she will receive much more than she could ever imagine.
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Bradstreet believes that no earthly possession will be as valuable as the ones God will

give her in the afterlife. She closes her poem, "Upon the Burning of Our House", by saying, "The

world no longer let me love, My hopes and treasures lie above" (Upon the Burning… Bradstreet

53-55). She believes that all her dreams and riches are found in heaven with God. Although her

house burned down, she did not grieve her lost items because they are waiting for her in heaven

with God. She values the possessions she will have in heaven more than the ones on Earth

because in heaven she will be blessed with endless gifts from God. Therefore, she values her

afterlife more than her life on earth. In the poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband", she talks

about the love she has for her spouse and proclaims, "I prize thy love more than whole mines of

gold" (To My Dear… Bradstreet lines 5-6). The love she has for her husband is more precious to

her than any of the riches she could have on earth. She sees her love for her husband as another

gift from God, which she cannot compare to anything valuable on earth. This is an example of

how she will have anything she could wish for in heaven. Bradstreet also sees the afterlife as

where she will share everlasting live with her husband.

Bradstreet believes that in the afterlife, she will live forever in love with her spouse. As

she expresses her love for her spouse she writes, "Thy love is such I can no way repay, The

heavens reward thee manifold, I pray" (To My Dear… Bradstreet lines 9-10). In other words, she

cannot repay her husband for the love they share, and she prays that he will be blessed in heaven.

A part of this blessing would be to live eternally with Bradstreet herself. Therefore, she views the

afterlife as a place where she will live forever with her husband and feel the same love for each

other as they do on earth. In the closing lines of the same poem about her spouse and continues

to convey her love to her husband as she writes, "Then while we live, in love so persevere That

when we live no more, we may live ever" (To My Dear… Bradstreet 11-12). The author writes
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to her husband that they should continue to love each other on earth so that in heaven they can

live in the same state of love. The afterlife is where she will live eternally in heaven, and she

hopes to do so alongside her partner as if they were still on earth. She plans on living in the

presence of God, forever in love with her husband.

Bradstreet gives thanks to God for all of the blessings He has given her, which include

her life on earth that she will eventually leave to get to the afterlife where she will live in her

paradise with her husband. Bradstreet views her life on earth and a part of God's plan for her,

while she sees the afterlife as where she will have riches and will be forever in love. There is no

way of knowing what the afterlife holds for oneself, though one's faith can determine whether it

will be good or not.

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Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” Glencoe American Literature, by Jeffrey

D. Wilhelm et al., Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009, pp. 92.

Bradstreet, Anne. “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Glencoe American Literature, by Jeffrey

D. Wilhelm et al., Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009, pp. 91.