To My Dear and Loving Husband

Anne Bradstreet
(1612 – 1672)
To My Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor aught but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The Heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Poetry Paper
To My Dear and Loving Husband
Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 in North Hamptonshire, England to Thomas and Dorothy Dudley. She married Simon Bradstreet at age 16. They were childhood sweethearts. In 1630 the couple sailed to America and decided to raise a family together. Their journey was so difficult to America; it took three long months to get there. Anne was very ill during the journey. Many of the other passengers on the ship didn’t make it; they died from the harsh conditions. Soon after the arrival in America they settled down and Anne’s husband became the chief administrator. They had eight children together and lived a very happy life. However, with her husband in a very powerful position for the government she grew lonely. She started to read her father’s books and teach her children about science, art, and history. She loved poetry and started to write it herself, it became a hobby for Anne. She was the first woman poet in the puritan-era in America to be published.
The voice in a poem is the term used to determine who the speaker is. The speaker is the voice we hear in the poem. The tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject. The voice in this poem is Anne Bradstreet. I feel that it is a reflection of her emotions towards her husband. She is a lonely housewife who anxiously waits for her husband day in and day out. She is deeply and...