Religion. It is a topic discussed throughout all of America as well as the rest of the world on a daily basis. There have been wars over it, political elections decided because of it, and millions of participants throughout the years. It is a part of several monumental pieces of history and carries on into the present day. Religion is what our nation is fundamentally built upon, all the way back to when the pilgrims came over on the Mayflower bringing their puritan based beliefs with them. What is interesting is that these beliefs from so long ago are still traced all throughout the everyday lives of Americans. It is asked, how is this possible, when the world is so different today than it was fifty or one hundred years ago? The answer is literature. Written works have made it …show more content…
She talks about how incredible the heavens must be if he could do such wonderful things here on the earth. I believe that is how Bradstreet believes it should be, based on her puritan background. According to puritan values, you should look to God’s word for everything knowing you will one day get to be with him forever. She also knew it wasn’t always the case in a world where, through Adam and Eve, sin was born. The next seven stanzas are dedicated to Cain, Adam and Eve’s son, who “With sullen hateful looks he goes his ways.” (Bradstreet). In his bitterness he kills his brother and runs off in despair to build a city. In a scholarly article titled Bliss Lost, Wisdom Gained Contemplating Emblems and Enigmas in Anne Bradstreet’s “Contemplations” , Michael G. Ditmore summed up what Cain represented in the poem when he stated “In short, Cain, if we ignore typology and redemption, could be construed as a purely secular emblem to illustrate the vicissitudes, havoc, and agonies of fallen human life: alienated and desperate for security, we futilely live under the constant threat of impending violence even in fortified cities;