The poem that impressed me the most is "Upon the Burning of Our House" because I think it is the poem that reflects Bradstreet's inner thoughts most accurately. It steps away from her usual poems and revels the conflict between her spirituality and her attachment to the secular world.
All of her poery has conflict, but I think it's because of the attachment Anne feels to the house and her poessesions that the conflict is at it peak.
Political Cartoon
Just as Anne Bradstreet had to forge her own way as a poet, the woman at the bottom of the ladder must find a different way to climb than the man. The political cartoon depicts a woman climbing a ladder but is impeded by the man above her removing the rungs as he goes. The women must find an alternative route up the ladder not only because the man is taking the rungs (his path) as he goes, but because her experience and point of view will give her different insights about how to reach success. While poets of Anne Bradstreet’s time focused on religion, she expressed her feelings about family, home and even her brief crises of faith through poetry. Being the first published woman poet in America, Anne brought a previously unexplored perspective to poetry that often strayed from typical Puritan doctrine. Both Anne Bradstreet and the woman at the bottom of the ladder in the cartoon will bring a unique, female perspective to a previously male dominated field, whether it be poetry or climbing the ladder of success.
Nicely done, Ian. Very nice.
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