"Before the Birth of One of Her Children"

"Before the Birth of One of Her Children"

All things within this fading world hath end,   

Adversity doth still our joyes attend;

No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet,   

But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet.   

The sentence past is most irrevocable,   

A common thing, yet oh inevitable.

How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend,   

How soon’t may be thy Lot to lose thy friend,   

We are both ignorant, yet love bids me   

These farewell lines to recommend to thee,   

That when that knot’s untied that made us one,   

I may seem thine, who in effect am none.   

And if I see not half my dayes that’s due,

What nature would, God grant to yours and you;   

The many faults that well you know I have  

Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;   

If any worth or virtue were in me,   

Let that live freshly in thy memory   

And when thou feel’st no grief, as I no harms,   

Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms.

And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains   

Look to my little babes, my dear remains.   

And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me,

These o protect from step Dames injury.

And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse,

With some sad sighs honour my absent Herse;   

And kiss this paper for thy loves dear sake,

Who with salt tears this last Farewel did take.

Imagery is a key component in a poem to eloquently create a picture to captivate a reader. In "Before the Birth of One of Her Children", as the fear of death approaches Bradstreet states, "With some sad sighs honour my absent Herse; And kiss this paper for thy loves dear sake, who with salt tears this last farewell did take" (Lines 26-28). Bradstreet clearly expresses through descriptive diction "sad sighs", "kiss", and "salt tears" the grief that will occur at the wake of the narrator's death. She yearns to be remembered by her husband with honor and dignity. Instead of plainly saying death will come, Bradstreet heightens the overall strength of the poem employing words to represent images. In doing so, she also establishes a vivd scene that more emotionally connects the reader to the narrator. Imagery adds an extra dimension to appeal to the reader's senses, generating a more enjoyable poem.

"By Night when Others Soundly Slept"

"By Night when Others Soundly Slept"

By night when others soundly slept

And hath at once both ease and Rest,

My waking eyes were open kept

And so to lie I found it best.

 

I sought him whom my Soul did Love,

With tears I sought him earnestly.

He bow'd his ear down from Above.

In vain I did not seek or cry.

 

My hungry Soul he fill'd with Good;

He in his Bottle put my tears,

My smarting wounds washt in his blood,

And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.

 

What to my Saviour shall I give

Who freely hath done this for me?

I'll serve him here whilst I shall live

And Loue him to Eternity.

Figurative language coincides with literal language to create imagery for a setting, character, and events. In Bradstreet's poem "By Night when Others Soundly Slept" she develops God through personification.
In presenting the power of God to the reader, Bradstreet says, "He bow'd his ear down from Above" (Line 7). Literally the action seems impossible, but figuratively Bradstreet is delineating God as omnipresent. Because of the strong Christian foundation, God is the protagonist and provider in the poem. Characterization is heightened by figurative language, especially personification.

"To My Dear and Loving Husband"

"To My Dear and Loving Husband"
If ever two were one, then surely we;
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor aught but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay;
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live in love let’s so persevere
That when we live no move we may live ever.

For a relatively short poem in length, Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband" is rich with symbols with meanings beyond the denotation. Bradstreet constitutes gold as less valuable than love by saying, "I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold" (Lines 5-6). This establishes money symbolically.  Bradstreet turn money's usually powerful, motivating force and devalues it, making it only a material. She sees past its mask of supposed happiness and looks to the priceless things in life, like love, for bliss. Bradstreet abides by the Puritan belief that money was gift from God and should be used to honor Him and not earthly possessions. Through expert use of symbolism, Bradstreet doesn't have to write exactly what point she is trying to convey, rather she implies the meaning through descriptive vocabulary and a passionate subject of love.