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122  Unit 2   ■   Analyzing Comparisons and Representations  Anne Bradstreet   ■   Verses upon the Burning of our House  123   UNIT 2

                    Verses upon the Burning of our House
 PRACTICE TEXT                                                                                   1   SPEAKER  The speaker (who is also a
                    In silent night when rest I took,                                   CHARACTER  character) had no reason to believe tragedy
                1   For sorrow near I did not look,                                             would strike.
                    For sorrow near I did not look,
                    I waken’d was with thund’ring noise
                    And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.                                       2   CHARACTER PERSPECTIVE   From the very first
 Verses upon the Burning   2  5 That fearful sound of “fire” and “fire,”                        lines, the speaker reveals that she wouldn’t wish
                    That fearful sound of “fire” and “fire,”
                                                                                                this experience on anyone.
                    Let no man know is my Desire.
 of our House       Let no man know is my Desire.                                                3   CHARACTER VALUES   In an act of extreme
                    I starting up, the light did spy,
                    And to my God my heart did cry
 Anne Bradstreet  3  And to my God my heart did cry                                             faith, the speaker cries out in prayer to God,
                    To straighten me in my Distress
                    To straighten me in my Distress
                                                                                                which shows her nature as a devout Christian
                    And not to leave me succourless.
                    Then coming out, behold a space
 THE TEXT IN CONTEXT  10 And not to leave me succourless.                                       with strongly held religious values.
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 f
 Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672) was born to an affluent Puritan  amily   The flame consume my dwelling place.  4   CHARACTER  The speaker refers to the
 in Northampton, England. An unusually well-educated woman   And when I could no longer look,   biblical story of Job, who was tested by God
 at the time, she (along with her husband and parents) emigrated   Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts  4  I blest his grace that gave and took,  and lost many possessions and family members
                    I blest his grace that gave and took,
 to Massachusetts as part of John Winthrop’s Puritan fleet in   15  That laid my goods now in the dust.  but ultimately remained faithful. The Book of Job
 1630. These settlers sought to practice a purer form of English   Yea, so it was, and so ’twas just.  1:21b describes Job’s words, “The Lord gave,
   Protestantism free from the official Church of England, which   It was his own; it was not mine.  and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the
 they considered corrupt. Like many of the Puritans, Bradstreet   Far be it that I should repine,  name of the Lord.”
 found the hardships of the New World difficult. She began  writing   He might of all justly bereft
 poems in the early 1630s that reflected both her religion and   20  But yet sufficient for us left.  5   PERSPECTIVE  The speaker shifts from
 her personal experiences — especially the fragility of human life,   5  When by the Ruins oft I past  being dutifully stoic. Beginning here through
                    When by the Ruins oft I past
 i
 the  mpermanence of material things, and her hope for religious                                line 35, the speaker describes feelings of grief,
                    My sorrowing eyes aside did cast
   salvation. Later, her poetry became more personal, as she meditated on herself and her   My sorrowing eyes aside did cast  disappointment, and sorrow for the memories of
                    And here and there the places spy
 domestic life as the mother of eight children. In the 1666 poem “Verses upon the Burning of   And here and there the places spy  all that she lost in the fire.
                    Where oft I sate and long did lie.
 our House,” Bradstreet reflects on a personal experience that had an important meaning.  Where oft I sate and long did lie.
                  25  Here stood that Trunk, and there that chest,                               6   CHARACTER PERSPECTIVE   The speaker feels
                    There lay that store I counted best,                                        guilty about mourning her lost home; instead of
 ® SKILLS
 AP     CHARACTER   My pleasant things in ashes lie                                             lingering on her grief, she denounces it as vanity
 Describing a Character’s Perspective
 PRACTICE
                    And them behold no more shall I.                                            and refocuses back to her religious values and
                    Under the roof no guest shall sit,                                          beliefs.
 As you read “Verses upon the Burning of our House,” consider how details in the   30  Nor at thy Table eat a bit.
 poem help reveal the speaker’s perspective. Record your notes in the graphic   No pleasant talk shall ’ere be told
 organizer.            Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
                    Nor things recounted done of old.
 Analyzing a Character’s Perspective  No Candle ’ere shall shine in Thee,
 Details from   What the Details Reveal   Nor bridegroom’s voice ere heard shall bee.
 Considerations  the Text  about Perspective  35  In silence ever shalt thou lie.
                    Adieu, Adieu, All’s Vanity.
 Character’s background  6  Adieu, Adieu, All’s Vanity.
                    Then straight I ’gin my heart to chide:
 Character’s actions and choices  Then straight I ’gin my heart to chide:
                    And did thy wealth on earth abide,
 Character’s internal thoughts
                    Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,
 Dialogue
                  40  The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
 Interactions with others  Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
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                    CREATIVE WRITING
                    Perspective Based on Personal Beliefs
                    In “Verses upon the Burning of our House, July   You may want to tell them about Kubler-Ross’s
                    10th, 1666,” Bradstreet’s belief system dictates   five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining,
                    her perspective on the destruction of her house   depression, and acceptance. Students could
                    and possessions. We first read about the event,   write a poem focusing on something they “lost”
                    and then the speaker shifts to her religious belief   and how their own belief system dictated their
                    about the event. (“Yea, so it was, and so twas   response to the loss. It is important that students
                    just.”) Ask students to examine their own belief   understand that poems do not have to be written
                    systems, which they rely on in times of hardship.   in meter and rhyme to be effective.








                                                                            Anne Bradstreet     Verses upon the Burning of our House  123






          03_williamlitte1e_47545_ch02_116_207_3pp.indd   123                                                                   08/12/22   5:23 PM
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