Anne Bradstreet's Poem Verses Upon The Burning Of Our Houses

The poem “Verses Upon the Burning of our Houses” describes a person’s thoughts as their house burns down. The narrator realized through the experience that their earthly possessions are not nearly as important as God and what he has in store for them in heaven. During the beginning the narrator was woken up from people screaming, “fire.” They then asked God to help them through what was happening and to not leave them helpless. As the narrator went outside, they saw the house in flames. Then they thanked God for all of the items they used to have because the items actually belonged to God. They were not upset because they knew God had left them all they would need. The narrator walked past their home and reflected on the memories. They remembered where all of the belongings once sat. It became clear that things had changed. Simple things like sitting at the table, talking, telling stories, or having guests over would not happen under that roof

She did not write the poems with illusions and metaphors. Instead, she wrote in the classic Puritan style. When she talks about the fire “consuming my dwelling place,” she literally means that she saw the flames engulfing her home. Clearly, Anne Bradstreet’s poem fit the Puritan poetry characteristic of having no symbolism or metaphors. It was very straight forward. Another characteristic that the poem fits is that t uses simple images. As the narrator describes what everything looks like, it is easy to imagine what she is seeing. The reader can picture all of the rubble from the burnt house. This poem also fits Puritan style because it has a simple vocabulary. Everyone would have understood this poem. In conclusion, Puritan writing had a spiritual reference and talked about a love for God. Bradstreet did so by realizing God was much more valuable than earthly things. She praised God throughout everything. It is easy to see that Anne Bradstreet was a puritan