The Analysis Of The Poem "Upon The Burning Of Our House" By Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet in her poem Upon the burning of our house, sets a perfect example of dealing with a situation which is out of our control. She expresses her distress on losing her beloved possessions but at the same time her awareness that she has to detach her connection to the world and focus on God(intro?). She remains calm throughout and looks at the situation optimistically, her faith in God helps to keep her together and move on. Bradstreet sees her house on fire, burning all her worldly possessions along.

She accepts that nothing could be done to rectify the situation, she tries to reorient her thoughts, saying “I blest his name that gave and took/that laid my goods now in dust.”. She acknowledges that all she owns belongs to God and he can take it away whenever he wants. Moreover, she reminds herself “Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity” which means everything is futile and comes to an end.

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In the last part of the poem Bradstreet consoles herself by thinking about the permanent house built for her in heaven. The house is “framed by that mighty architect” and is “richly furnished”. The new use will not be subject to fire or any earthly alteration. She says goodbye to her house and emphasizes “My hope and treasure lies above”.

Through this poem Anne Bradstreet like any other person expresses her sorrow upon the loss of her house but at the same time tries to keep going by possessing immense faith in God.

S imilarly, Mary Rowlandson tried to remain positive positive even in the toughest situations. Her immense immense faith in God helped her to maintain positiveness. She mentions how God was with her all the time, carried her along and kept her spirit high.

The day she and her child were forced to travel on the horse made her and her child’s condition worse. She was deeply wounded and her child was suffering from fever to which she thought was the end of her life but were alive. She thanked God for not letting her spirit sink, she said “still the lord uphold me with his gracious and mercifull spirit, and e were both alive to see the light of the next morning.” Rowlandson mentions, ‘ wonderfull goodness of God to me, ...that I did not use wicked and violent means to end my own miserable life’. When her child died instead of losing faith in God she thanked him for saving her from taking any harmful measures or ending her life.

Also, through her writing she portrayed that she contended with God’s decision as he saved her child from all the sufferings. Moreover, instead of presenting her bad deed in a confessional way, Rowlandson rationalizes it by saying the child could only gnaw on the tough meat. She even thanks the Lord for making such an unappealing food taste good. It is hypocritical on her part to thank the Lord for his providence when engaging in such an act. (how to add thiss??)Instead of losing faith in God when he preserves the enemy or does not protect her and the English, she emphasizes all the more emphatically his role in shaping the course of human events.

Finally, her argument serves as a strong general criticism on the English people, including herself. Furthermore, the portrayal of emotions through writing alongwith eternal faith in God was not limited to female authors.