Anne Bradstreet as a Puritan

There are many special literary periods in early American record that can be defined as the forerunners for American literature. American Puritanism can most straightforwardly be defined as a reformative movement in the early 16th and 17th century when the English were straying from the rule of the Catholic Church in hopes of purifying themselves through a more strict devotion to a Protestant religion and to God. The Puritans believed that through a devout faith in God they could obtain salvation. We credit this period as the earliest literary period in American history. This period's literature was saturated with religious allusions, and written through a strict homage to God, in hopes of living a pure life. This is evident in a plethora of the works of this literary period. One in particular that stands above the rest are the writings of Anne Bradstreet. As the first woman American author, Bradstreet established herself as a renowned pioneer and poet. The religious freedom that she and so many others desired was prevalent in her work (Clark, 102-132).

The eloquence in which she wrote, the passion and heart that was poured into her work is the catalyst that pushed her texts through the years and into the 21st century. As a wife and mother of eight, Bradstreet, new to the Massachusetts colony, led a hard and rigorous life. Perhaps the hardships of this new life propelled her writing. Because of her father's high stature in England Bradstreet was fortunate enough to have received a good education, and by the age of thirty it is said that most of her poetry was written (Gelernter, 56-78). Though she was married, Bradstreet spent most of her life alone, rearing and raising her children in absence of a husband, father. It was during this period in her life that she wrote one of her more famous poems. “To My Dear And loving Husband” was written sometime in the early 1640's. While it is simply a letter to her husband, perhaps a thought on paper, something she hoped to say, it is also a look at the Puritan lifestyles and beliefs, from God to family and love (Clark, 102-132).

Like Shakespeare before her, Bradstreet wrote this poem in iambic pentameter. While it is not the same number of lines, or even rhyme scheme, the stressed, unstressed flow in which it comes off of the tongue ...