God and Puritan Life in the Poetry of Anne Bradstreet
...fe is, even in the good times: "All things within this fading world hath end,/ Adversity doth still our joys attend" (140). In this poem, she still confirms God's role in her life, and in the lives of everyone else: "And if I see not half my days that's due,/What nature would, God grant to yours and you" (141). Bradstreet addresses both her husband and unborn child, as though she is certain she will die. The certainty of death was an unavoidable aspect of Puritan life. The Puritan ideas about God and life are expressed very clearly in Bradstreet's poem "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666". It was written shortly after a sudden fire burnt down Bradstreet's home, and expresses feelings of remorse, relief and faith. As her house burns, Bradstreet "blest His name that gave and took,/ That laid my goods now in the dust" (143). The fire was an Act of God, and Bradstreet should be thankful, but still she expresses remorse over what she's lost, finally deciding that rather than focus on the material possessions that she has lost, she should "Raise thy thoughts above the sky/ That dunghill mists away may fly./ Thou hast an house on high erect,/ Framed by that mighty Architect" (143). She comes to the conclusion that her true rewards and comforts lie in Heaven, rather than with ephemeral material possessions. Anne Bradstreet's letter "To My Dear Children" tells of her life and expresses her feelings about God and life. She writes the letter while she is still healthy and in full command of her mind, because death comes so quickly that she could not be sure that she would be able to tell her children all that she needed to on her deathbed. Her letter talks mostly about her faith in God, and how she sees God's hand in the miracle of everyday life, because she "never saw any miracles to confirm me, and those which I read of, how did I know but they were feigned?" (146). The Puritan world view was based on the idea that God controls every aspect of life, and Bradstreet echoes this concept when she speaks about her life. She describes how God laid His hand on her and brought her back to the true path whenever she strayed, although "I have been with God like an untoward ch...