Anne Bradstreet's To My Dear And Loving Husband

Anne Bradstreet was the first American to publish a book of poetry, and it was one of the first by a woman. She was raised in a Puritan household. Much of her writing expresses her Puritan beliefs that people must not place importance on worldly things. In her poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, she compares spiritual vs. material wealth. She also expresses her Puritan belief that if a marriage was faithful and successful, this would be rewarded in heaven. In “Upon the Burning of Our House”, she asks God to give her strength when times were tough. She believed that it happened for a reason, perhaps because she began to value earthly possessions above God. She believed that could have been God’s reason. The end of the poem confirms