HOME » WORKSHOPS » POETRY » ANNE BRADSTREET, "TO MY DEAR AND LOVING HUSBAND" » RE-READING

Anne Bradstreet, "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

Included in the Seagull Reader

BIOGRAPHY

Reading » Re-Reading » Explorations

Re-Reading Questions

Text on p. 826 of the full Ninth Edition





5




10

If ever two were one, then surely we. [1]
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man, [2]
Compare with me ye women if you can. [3]
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold. [4]
My love is such that rivers cannot quench, [5]
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense. [6]
Thy love is such I can no way repay; [7]
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. [8]
Then while we live, in love let's so persever, [9]
That when we live no more we may live ever. [10]

Re-Reading Questions

Note: Some of these questions require extensive answers to explore them fully. Therefore, you may either use them as brief prompts for your own thinking about the poem after reading the study materials or explore them in a paper.

1. Consider the three metaphors in lines 5–7. How is Bradstreet using them? As metaphysical conceits?

2. Check out the meter (iambic pentameter) and look for key variations in rhythm and in syntax. What do you find? Ordinarily any variation from the norm points to special emphasis.

3. Check definitions of words to clarify meanings. How might different meanings of a word be working together?

4. Find the imagery of wealth and debt and trace it through the poem. Is this an example of an extended metaphor?

5. What are the possibilities of ironic subtext, considering the patriarchal and hierarchical nature of the Puritan culture?

 

Icon Directory
Seagull and Portable icon In The Portable Intro to Literature
Seagull icon In The Seagull Reader
Portalble Intro to Lit icon In Portable & The Seagull Reader