Religious Ideals in "verses upon the Burning of Our House"

Imagery: Religious ideals in "Verses upon the Burning of Our House"

Imagine waking in the middle of the night at home to the smell of smoke. Your eyes are slightly blurred, but the faintest glowing light is seeping in from under your bedroom door. In a matter of moments you realize something has caught fire. You hear shouting from outside your window which confirms the situation. Once out of harm's way, you stand at a safe distance watching flames envelope your home and belongings. In such a shocking and tragic event, what is your first thought? Most would either think "I am lucky to be alive" or "I cannot believe all of my things are gone". Anne Bradstreet, deemed to be the first published American female poet, wrote about her own experience with her home catching fire in July of 1666. In this poem however, her first thought was not in thanks for her life or sadness for the loss of her things but rather that this event was God's will.

Anne Bradstreet, daughter of Thomas Dudley, was raised in a Puritan society. According to the Norton Anthology of American Literature, Bradstreet was born to a well off family, and her father "took great care to see that she received an education superior to that of most young women of the time" (Franklin 187). Bradstreet married young at the age of 16 and travelled with her husband to Massachusetts to endure the life of a traditional Puritan woman, bearing eight children and practicing her religion faithfully. Bradstreet's religion and time period posed restrictions and difficulties on her interests as a writer. People needed assurance that women did not neglect their "duties to their husbands and children in order to write" (Reid, 524). In her article ""Unfit for Light": Anne Bradstreet's Monstrous Birth", Bethany Reid, an American Literature teacher at Everett Community College, states that women faced complexities "in claiming their own authority, their own voices in a Puritan society who's workings were dominated by men" (541). Though well known today, Bradstreet's poetry was meant to be personal, and we find a strong presence of emotional attachment to her subjects--something the Puritans praised. In dealing with the more serious aspect of Puritanism, the main idea revolved around "election & predestination" where "God chooses who is saved and who is damned. No one can earn salvation through works" (Feldmeth). A devout woman, firm in her practices and beliefs, Bradstreet's works demonstrate to present day readers the thoughts and ideas behind Puritanism. One work in particular takes a close look at the concept of predestination. In her poem "Verses upon the Burning of Our House" Bradstreet exemplifies the possibility of both damnation and salvation through the use of imagery.

Throughout the poem, the reader finds prominent images portraying damnation based on the Puritan belief system. For example, at the start of the poem Bradstreet escapes the treacherous fire that consumes her home and watches as it burns:

I starting up, the light did spy,

And to my God my heart did cry

To straighten me in my Distress

And not to leave me succourless.

Then coming out, behold a space

The flame consume my dwelling place. (7-12)

First, though the cry from her heart is metaphorical, the image is meant to illustrate emotions of desperation. When she begs God to not leave her "succourless" she is asking not to be left without help or relief in this tragic event. To be left alone without means to live would imply

God has condemned her and she is not meant for salvation. Also, Bradstreet creates a visual image in line 12 when she mentions the flames. Flames are representative of numerous things, but in this instance, the idea of hell is portrayed, further demonstrating Bradstreet's attempt to convey damnation. Another part of the poem that builds upon this idea is when Bradstreet is trying to rationalize her circumstances by claiming it

...