Anne Bradstreet's Contemplations
I have recently become more and more accepting of Bradstreet. Previously, and those who know me know, I have no real connection or affinity for poetry. It is simply "not my thing." However, I do realize that for Anne Bradstreet to be the first published poet from the New World was a very big deal. To me the fact that she was a woman is what makes it so.
In the introduction it is said that most people now read Bradstreet for her domestic poetry. That these are the works that most people relate to and are interested in. For me this is not the case. One of my favorite poems of Bradstreet's is Contemplations. This is the poem in which she finds the wonder and proof of God in nature. Her imagry and descriptions of the natural world that surrounds her is wonderful. In stanza 22 and 23 she uses the "stealing stream" to map the path that Christians should take in the world: never being hindered or obstructed and carrying others with it where a "hundred brooks" meet together.
The last two stanzas, however, take her previous statements and turns them around. This beautiful world that is a proof of God will end. "Here's neither honor, wealth, nor safety; Only above is found all with security" (ln 223-4).
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I'm not a huge poetry fan, and I didn't appreciate Bradstreet much before now either :) I enjoy how you mention both that Bradstreet was the first published American poet AND a female poet. The two facts are impressive on their own, but together they definitely do make a big deal. And the best (or worst) part? She became a published poetess and the first published American poet without knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI connected most strongly with Bradstreet's domestic poems, but I can see how you connected with "Contemplations". Thanks for pointing out the "stealing stream" in stanzas 22 and 23; I missed their beauty in my reading.