Poetry Analysis: Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband”

Anne Bradstreet is often called “America’s first female poet”. The poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is penned in iambic pentameter and was published in 1678 after her death.Her husband Simon Bradstreet became a Massachusetts governor and had to travel for weeks in keeping with his role as the administrator of the colony. The prescribed poem was born out of his absence. The subject of her poem professes unconditional love for her husband.

The influence of Complementarianism is evident in her writings. “Complementarianism is a theological view held by many in Christianity and other world religions that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, religious leadership, and elsewhere. It assigns leadership roles to men and support roles to women, based on the interpretation of certain biblical passages. One of its precepts is that while women may assist in the decision making process, the ultimate authority for the decision is the purview of the male in marriage, courtship, and in the polity of churches subscribing to this view.”The title of the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” exemplifies how the spouse is not only dear to her but loves her in a complementary manner.

Analysis

The poetess begins by asserting that if two were ever one then it is were them. She adds up one and one- to one(instead of two) revealing how their love defies logic. The sentiment was beyond reasoning and rationalizing. Furthermore, it may refer to the union of their marital relationship where they have a reciprocal role. It illustrates the spiritual union of their souls-though they were two, their soul was one. In John Donne’s “Canonization” he makes a similar comparison to the sexual union of the two lovers which has their soul as one and labels it as a neutral union devoid of gender as emblematized by the phoenix.

The poetess marks her love as singular by singling it out :as man were ever loved by woman then it is “thee”. The word ‘thee’ is the dative, accusative or objective case of the second person singular pronoun thou. Therefore by the statement,she renders him an object of her love.This usage is currently obsolete ,utilized only in archaic forms.

She further declares that if wife were truly happy ‘in’ a man ,then compare her to those women who professed to be so.By using the word ‘in’ she connotes how according to Christian theology,the Woman was constructed from the ribs of Man.Also,iIt was common for women to be subservient to their husbands during the seventeenth century. However, the poetess questions the fact that how many wives adhered to the same out of unconditional fondness. ”Ye” is the plural of the pronoun of the second person in the nominative case. Also note that she uses the preposition ‘in’ in the phrase “wife was happy in a man”. Therefore, the poetess inverts the image of a Woman being pregnant with a male child. She also inverts the linguistic tendencies of the word the man being contained in woman in words like ‘woman ‘that contains ‘man’, ”female’ that contains male”, Mrs that has ‘Mr’.etc She treasures his love more than material wealth or ‘mines of gold’ and all the rich resources of the East. The comparison utilized here can be likened to the hyperbole employed by the Petrarchan sonneteers. Only the beloved’s love can compensate for the same.

And in turn, his love cannot be repaid as it is infinite in its depth. The speaker entreats with the heavens to bless her in manifold ways. The lines: ”Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,/That when we live no more, we may live ever.” once again remind us of John Donne’s “Canonization” in which he states that by virtue of their mortal love ,they will construct a memorial that will render their mortal love immortal.

Rukhaya M.K

A Literary Companion