Upon The Burning Of Our House By Anne Bradstreet And Michael Wigglesworth

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In the poetry of the three authors, Anne Bradstreet, Michael Wigglesworth and Samuel Danforth, there are numerous expressions of conventional Christian sentiment throughout. One convention that is similar among all of the puritan poets is the quality of righteousness. Their preoccupation with interpreting god word and living by these standard can be seen in the writing of all three poets. Their reasons for living clean, moral life is because they believed that they would not only be judged for what they did in their mortal life, but also in the afterlife. Although they believed that god had predetermined who was going to heaven and who was going to hell, they thought that if you did not follow the word of god, it would lead to ultimate damnation. …show more content…

In Anne Bradstreet’s Poem “Upon the Burning of Our House” she expresses her thoughts on how the burning of her house was god’s will and all the things that belong in it are material things that truly belong to God. Bradshaw states “I blest his Name that gave and took, That layd my goods now in the dust: Yea so it was, and so 'twas just. It was his own: it was not mine; Far be it that I should repine.” She recognizes in this passage that she never truly owned these items, as god allowed her to enjoy them for the time she had, and his decision to take them away is one she must accept. However, she then goes on to list the different items that she lost in the fire and you can sense her longing for them. She states “No pleasant tale shall 'ere be told, Nor things recounted done of old.” She recognized that there will be no more memories made in this house and in a sense, she is truly not accepting of this. By doing this, she is going against her Christian beliefs, which look down upon materialism and forgetting her purpose is to serve god and accept the fate he has in store for