Author's Solid Faith In God example essay topic
462 words
Here Follows Some Verses... In all of Anne Bradstreet's poetry that we have read, she has taken an experience of hers and then dissected and related it to Christian and, more generally, Puritan merits. "Here Follows Some Verses", is no exception. After the burning of her house 1666, Bradstreet wrote this poem. It expresses her longing for the house and the possessions that were consumed in the fire. The poem also shows the author's solid faith in God. There is a minor conflict between her religious merits and her connection with her lost items (namely her house). This conflict spurs questions that irk analysis of theology. However, they are resolved before the end of the poem. The beginning of the poem is a wake up call. Bradstreet introduces the fire early in the poem, jolting our attention.
She does this so that the sense of urgency she felt is convey to the reader. The first thought that comes to Bradstreet's mind is to ask God for help, .".. And not leave [her] succorless". This was her first and, for her, most natural reaction to distress. Once she had escaped the house, she said that it was God's will for the house to burn. From this we see that the author is a pious woman with solid faith.
Soon after, we see that Bradstreet has a less religious side to her personality. After escaping from the house and looking at the ashes where her home once stood, she begins to long for the material possessions consumed in the fire. The flow of the poem changes from shocking to sad when the Bradstreet surveys the site and wherever she looks has memories of the things that once used to be there. There is a lot of repetition at this point. The words no and nor are repeated several times between lines 28 and 34, stressing her pining for her home and the memories that she will never have.
The superficial side of Bradstreet shows itself for only a short time, however. She accepts the fire as an act of God. She glorifies God by calling her possessions worthless. She continues to look forward to heaven and in doing so eases the pain of losing her home. Her faith is unshaken. It remains solid and always will because her heart tells her that heaven is so much greater than any worldly possession she could imagine.
Eventhough she pines for her lost things, she quells her doubts with her faith. Posing the questions she does is a way for her to reassure her trust in God's hands.
