Heart of a Puritan Woman.

Religious freedom, the catalyst for American colonization brought many immigrants from Europe seeking to worship, free from persecution and intolerance. the most successful venture was that of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led and inspired by John Winthrop. Among these colonists included Thomas Dudley and his recently married daughter, Anne Bradstreet. Anne was most likely present when John Winthrop gave his famous sermon: A Model of Christian Charity. He prefaced his sermon with the model stating:

God Almighty in His most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection (Levine 93).

Bradstreet would not have fallen into the categories of poor, mean, or subjection. She was educated and intelligent. She was the daughter of an educated man and future governor. A role her husband, Simon, would eventually hold. Her faith, education, and her role as a mother and wife influenced her writing.

Bradstreet was given an English education, which also meant that she was well versed in the scriptures. Some of her poems, including "Contemplation," has beautiful connections to Biblical references. However, we find that Bradstreet drew spiritual inspiration from the

... wondrous works, that I see, the vast frame of the heaven and the earth, the order of all things, night and day, summer and winter, spring and autumn, the daily providing for this great household upon the earth, the preserving and directing of all to its proper end (Levine 113).

Bradstreet employs imagery that captures the sights and sounds effortlessly. Each line is written with a purpose. She shares the pains and grief alongside the hopes and joys of her life. Her poems also reflect her acknowledged weaknesses; often checking herself against the beliefs that stirred within her.

In her poem, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children", Bradstreet expresses the realities of motherhood and bringing life into the world. This particular poem has the influence of her faith, yet it is so full of motherly emotions and sentiment. this poem begins with an acknowledgment that: "All things within this fading world hath end" (Levine 123), a realization that death comes to everything. There is finality and separation "with death's parting blow" (line 4) and it is "irrevocable." The speaker informs the reader that this message is to her spouse when she addresses him with "my Dear". In line 11 we visually witness the marriage cords unwind: "That when that knot's untied that made us one". Due to the reality of death and separation from her husband, Bradstreet begins to share her concerns and makes a plea to God that, though her life has been cut short "God grant to yours and you" (line 14) a long life. In lines 15 through 18, she asks her husband to forget her "many faults" and to have them "interred" in her "grave" but to remember her "virtues" as if she were still alive. Her next concern is for her husband and children to heal and move on. This would mean that her husband, Simon, could remarry and if that is the case, she asks him to "protect from stepdame's injury" (line 24). Her last request concerns the discovery of her poem after she has passed and has been buried. She asks that he cherish it "And kiss this paper for thy love's dear sake." This poem is a tender message to her husband filled with love and concern.

Despite being a very personal poem, Bradstreet demonstrates her intellect and education. This poem is an example of heroic couplets with the meter in iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets. We would not consider this an epic poem in the heroic sense, except that for a colonial Puritan woman, she overcame much in her life and has demonstrated great strength in the face of adversity. To have been a woman, mother, and poet during this time in American history is a tremendous accomplishment. Adrienne Rich adds:

To have written poems, the first good poems in America, while rearing eight children, lying frequently sick, keeping house at the edge of wilderness, was to have managed a poet's range and extension within confines as strict as any American poet has confronted (Levine 113).

Like many creative artists, Bradstreet was subject to other "restrictions." She struggled with her faith and see the first evidence of this when she describes her encounter with coming to America:

Bradstreet writes that when she first "came into this country" she "found a new world and new manners," at which her "heart rose" in resistance. "But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I submitted to it and joined the church at Boston" (Levine 113).

We don't know how the convincing occurred, however, we do know that her father and her husband were influential men in this colony and may have described the expectations of her role in the community and in the church. She didn't struggle all the time, as we read in her poem her plea to God.

In addition to her faith and her motherly feelings, we also sense a balance with reality. Her poem identifies the reality of death in childbirth. The fact that she was able to conceive, bear and rear eight children is astounding during a time when mortality was high. She understood the risks and dealt with the possibilities in a sensible way. She took care of business; her concerns and itemized them in a poem. A love letter to her spouse. What we may call pragmatism may be more fully appreciated as the Heart of a Puritan Woman.

References:

Levine, Robert S., et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 1820-1865. 9th ed., vol. 1 2, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.