Upon The Burning Of Our House By Anne Bradstreet Analysis

A Puritans Values
Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666,” describes the horrific night Anne was awoken to her house on fire and the internal struggles, both emotionally and spiritually, she faced while witnessing it burn to ash. Her Puritan values greatly influenced her writing style and content, which was especially notable in this poem with the constant tug between her spiritual values and earthly valuables.
The Puritans were a religious group in the late 16th and 17th centuries that became noted for a spirit of religious and moral intensity. In this poem, Bradstreet goes to bed one night, and not expecting any sorrows, “For sorrow near I did not look” (Bradstreet 122, 2), because

She narrates "It was His own, it was not mine” (Bradstreet 122, 17). After seeing her house burn, and taking away all the things that she possessed, she knows there is nothing she can do. Bradstreet, therefore, aligns her thoughts and says, “I blest His name that gave and took” (Bradstreet 14). Bradstreet as a Puritan had the belief that for one to be righteous, they had to dissolve their ties with the earthly things. Bradstreet thus tells herself that she had done something bad by forgetting the fact that it was God that owned everything. As a result, she leaves everything to God as she has reminded herself that God can at any time take anything He wants from His children (Bradstreet 15-17). The Puritans believed that man was not supposed to sin at any cost and they also believed in life after death. The poet criticizes herself for having sinned and cries out to God, “Far be it that I should repine/ He might of all justly bereft/ But yet sufficient for us left” (Bradstreet 18-19). She believes that she was supposed to leave it all to God because they belonged to Him. She knows even with all her possessions being burned to the ground, God still left her with all she needed The Puritans believed that they were not to become worldly by living in the world. Bradstreet bids farewell to her home and reminds herself that she has a permanent home in Heaven which is built by God and cannot be destroyed by fire. She writes, “Thou hast an house on high erect/ Framed by the mighty Architect/ With glory richly furnished/ Stands permanent though this be fled” (Bradstreet 43-46). The Puritans believed in life after death, and that one must not become too attached to things of the