Anne Bradstreet "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment"

Anne Bradstreet "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment"

Introduction

“A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” is a poem written by Anne Bradstreet. This poem follows the classic style of Verse letter. It reflects the longings and desire of a women whose husband is away from her. Bradstreet proves her expertise in presenting her thoughts in erotic words with her Puritan believes. Her description of physical relation between man and woman and their divine and spiritual bond of marital relationship reflects the early American style with its religious impact on poetry. Most of the writers of this time were devoted to God but Bradstreet was not that much devoted but her writings and language is “burdened with qualifications and equivocations” (Merrim, S., 1999, pp.148).This poem is filled with the explicit use of figurative language.

Thesis Statement

Anne Bradstreet's poem “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” is a masterpiece of her command on explicit use of figurative language.

Discussion

This letter is richly enveloped with beautiful and unique comparisons that perfectly mirror her inner feelings. The use of metaphor in this poem is very unusual. Especially the use of zodiac signs provides complete picture of her desires. The way she expressed her feelings and resembling her husband with Sun is extraordinary, “I like the Earth”, “My Sun is gone so far” (Lines7-8). Her own similarity with Earth also reflects the idea of fertility associated with Earth, which she later proves by referring to her children as “fruits” (Line14). It also depicts the idea of the warmth and light Earth gets from the Sun, “mourn in black” (Line7) is a sharp contrast as without Sun there is no light which is expressed both metaphorically and literally, it points towards the darkness or night and mourning. She resembles her distance from her husband as far as Sun is from the Earth. She also expresses the fact that her husband is “in's zodiac”( Line8), and his return from “Capricorn”( Line12) illustrates the distance as the farthest because Capricorn is the southernmost sign and her husband being there is like sailing in Tropic of Capricorn.

Another figurative resemblance is with the seasons; “this season” (Line7) reflects the idea that it is the time when her husband or the Sun is in the Zodiac in Capricorn. It reflects the time of winter season, without him she felt “chilled” (Line11) and then she expressed the time of summer which expresses through the time when Sun moves towards the Cancer to the northward. With the help of zodiacal allusions she conveys the emotions and warmth she felt when her husband is near her, “Within the Cancer of my glowing breast” (Line21). She also describes her sexual longings and needs with referring to her “chilled limbs” (Line11) which now become frozen and senseless with waiting for him for so long and now she felt desperate and she wants her husband to return to her so ...