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Abstract："To My Dear and Loving Husband" was written by America's first female poet，the Puritan，Anne Bradstreet. In this paper，the author wants to review and examine Anne Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband". Firstly，the author makes an analysis of the poetic features of "To My Dear Loving Husband". Secondly the author analyses the social background of this poem. Finally，the author comments the theme of this poem. After the analysis，the author concludes that"To My Dear and Loving Husband" is a touching display of the love and affection of a wife to her husband，extraordinarily uncommon for the Puritan era of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in which Anne Bradstreet lived.
Key Words： Anne Bradstreet；"To My Dear and Loving Husband"；poetic features；social background；theme
1、Introduction
In this paper，the author wants to review and examine Anne Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband." This poem was written in 1641，but was not published until 1678 after her death. Because of this，many believe it was written as a personal note to her husband and was not meant to be publicized. In order to analyze this work，I feel it is important to know a few facts about her life.
Anne Bradstreet was born Anne Dudley in Northhampton，England，in 1612. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke. She lived in a time when the amount of education that a woman received was little to none. Even though she did not attend school，she was privileged enough to receive her education from eight tutors and from her father，Thomas Dudley，who was always more than willing to teach her something new. She was a very inquisitive young person who satisfied her hunger for knowledge through her extensive reading of some of the greatest authors ever known. "Thanks to her father's position as the steward of the Earl of Lincoln estate，she had unlimited access to the great library of the manor. This is where she became exposed to the writings of many well known authors. In 1628 she married Simon Bradstreet，her father's assistant".（Waller，Jennifer R，1974： 435-437）
In 1629，her father and husband had joined a group of very successful men，whose goal was to protect Puritan values from people like the Bishop of Laud and establish their own society in a new land. On March 29，1630，Bradstreet and her family immigrated to the New World. Bradstreet was not too happy with the idea of giving up all of the benefits of the Earl's manor for what the wilderness of the New World had to offer. Nevertheless，Bradstreet spent three months on her ship，the Arbella，before she reached Salem on June 12，1630. Ten other ships reached the Salem port soon after hers.（Morgan，Edmund S.，1996：29-30）
When Bradstreet stepped foot on the soil of the New World，she was overwhelmed by the sickness，lack of food，and primitive living conditions. Regardless of all this hardship，she refused to give in and return to England and instead made the best of her new life. She struggled to raise eight children，take care of her home，and she still found time to write. Bradstreet lived a hard life，but she proved to be a strong women and this internal resolve is reflected in her writings. Bradstreet was bothered by the cultural bias toward women that was common in her time； the belief was that a woman's place was in the home attending to the family and her husband's needs. "Women were often considered intellectual inferiors and because of this，critics believed that Bradstreet stole her ideas for her poems from men. Her writing was severely criticized because it was that of a woman，receiving a different kind of criticism than that of her male counterparts."（Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988：34）The public had a similarly harsh reaction to Bradstreet's role as a female writer. When her first publication of The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was released，the idea that she was a virtuous women had to be stressed. John Woodbridge，her brother-in-law，had to write： "By a Gentle Women in Those Parts" on the title page to assure readers that Bradstreet did not neglect her duties as a Puritan woman in order to write，by making it clear that she found time for her poetry by giving up sleep and using what little leisure time she had. We can see the anger that Bradstreet feels towards this kind of criticism about her writing in the following lines of her work.
" The Prologue'：
I am obnoxious to each carping tongue
Who says my hand a needle better fits；
A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong，
For such despite they cast on female wits.
If what I do prove well，it won't advance；
They'll say it's stol'n，or else it was by chance."（Ball Kenneth R，1973： 29-30）.
Simon Bradstreet played a crucial role in many of Bradstreet's works. She wrote love poems about him when he was around as well as when he was away on trips. In Bradstreet's Puritan culture，the love between husband and wife was supposed to be slightly repressed，so as not to distract one from devotion to God. Yet，some of Bradstreet's sonnets work against this idea.
Another theme in Bradstreet's works was her religious experiences. In her writing Bradstreet gives an insight of Puritan views of salvation and redemption. "She writes about how she feels that God has punished her through her sicknesses and her domestic problems. The Puritans believed that suffering was God's way of preparing the heart for accepting His grace." （Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988：67）This idea plagued Bradstreet，and she wrote about how she struggled to do everything that she could to give into His will，in order to save her wondering soul. However，she thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband.
Bradstreet was not very successful with her first publications. The first edition of "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"was not very well received by critics. In writing "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"，as with some of her later works，she tried to incorporate the style of the male authors that she respected. By doing so she was limiting her abilities and denying her feelings. The publication of her first works gave her the confidence and experience to be freer with her writing. In her later works，she began to write in her own style，where her own emotions were now more clearly expressed in her writings. "One of these later works isIn Honor of? That High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory'"（Waller，Jennifer R.，1974：438-440），in which Bradstreet proclaims that women are worth something. The use of her emotions in her writings is a technique that changed Anne Bradstreet from a good writer into a great writer.
II. The poetic features of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
To My Dear and Loving Husband
If ever two were one，then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd 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 ought but love from thee，give recompetence.
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.
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" was written by America's first female poet，the Puritan，Anne Bradstreet. In fact，Anne Bradstreet is one of only a handful of female American poets during the first 200 years of America's history. "After Bradstreet，one can list only Phillis Wheatley，the 18th century black female poet，Emma Lazarus，the 19th century poet whose famous words appear on the Statue of Liberty，and the 19th century Emily Dickinson，America's most famous female poet." （Waller，Jennifer R，1974： 435-437）."To My Dear and Loving Husband" has several standard poetic features. One is the two line rhyme scheme. Another is the anaphora，the repetition of a phrase，in the first three lines. And a third is the popular iambic pentameter.
"Iambic pentameter is characterized by an unrhymed line with five feet or accents.” （邵锦娣，白锦鹏，2002：354） . Each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable，as in "da Dah，da Dah，da Dah，da Dah，da Dah."
In the poem，the author uses literary concept such as rhyme to make the poem more fun to read and easy to understand. In the line "I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold，" "or all the riches that the East doth hold." This tell us that she value their love very much that money can't buy. She doesn't care how rich the people in the East are，she feel rich and happy already because of the love she and her husband share. Anne said she is a happy wife because he has gives all her happiness. Where the line indicate this is "If ever wife was happy in man，compare with me，ye woman，if you can"，has simply tell us that she feel happy and live a happy life because she is proud of the love she and her husband have for each other.
Another literary concept of the poem is that the author is the speaker for this poem. The author is telling us her point of view of the love she have for her husband，and how much she cherish it. She strongly believes that their love can be preserve and that it will live forever. In the last line of the poem where it said "then while we live，in love let's so persever，then when we live no more，we may live ever." The author is speaking from her point of view that she believe even if one day that they are dead，that their love will still live on forever.
III. The Social Background of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
The subject of Anne Bradstreet's love poem is her professed love for her husband. She praises him and asks the heavens to reward him for his love. "The poem is a touching display of love and affection，extraordinarily uncommon for the Puritan era of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in which Anne Bradstreet lived. Puritan women were expected to be reserved，domestic，and subservient to their husbands. They were not expected or allowed to exhibit their wit，charm，intelligence，or passion. John Winthrop，the Massachusetts governor，once remarked that women who exercised wit or intelligence were apt to go insane.''（Morgan，Edmund S，1996： 69）.
The men in Anne Bradstreet's family were managers and politicians. Both her father and her husband became Massachusetts governors. Her husband，Simon，often traveled for weeks throughout the colony as its administrator. Anne Bradstreet's poem，"To My Dear and Loving Husband，" was written as a response to her husband's absence.
Very little is known about Anne Bradstreet's life in Massachusetts. There are no portraits of her，and she does not even have a grave marker. She and her family moved several times，each time further away from Boston into the frontier. Anne and Simon had 8 children during a 10 year period，and all of the children survived healthy and safe，a remarkable accomplishment considering the health risks and the security hazards of the period.
Anne Bradstreet was highly intelligent and largely self-educated. She took herself seriously as an intellectual and a poet，reading widely in history，science，art，and literature. Her library，before the house burned in 1666，numbered about 800 volumes. However，as a good Puritan woman，Bradstreet did not make her accomplishments public.
Bradstreet wrote poetry for herself，family，and friends，never meaning to publish them. "Consider that her friend，Anne Hutchinson was intellectual，educated and led women' s prayer meetings where alternative religious beliefs were discussed. She was labeled a heretic and banished from the colony. Hutchinson eventually died in an Indian attack.''（Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988： 52）. Is it any wonder that Anne Bradstreet was hesitant to publish her poetry and call attention to herself.
Anne Bradstreet's early poems were secretly taken by her brother-in-law to England and published in a small volume when she was 38. The volume sold well in England，but the poems were not nearly as accomplished as her later works. Bradstreet's later works were not published during her lifetime. Her poems about her love for her husband were private and personal，meant to be shared only with her family and friends. Though her health was frequently a concern，especially during childbirth，Anne Bradstreet lived until 60 years of age.
IV. The Theme of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
This is a love poem wrote by Anne Bradstreet. She dictated by her emotion which was such great love for her husband，that she wished their love will be honored even after their death，and said " If ever two were one，then surely we，if ever man were loved by wife，then thee：" Usually in the earlier writers，majority of the poems，describing the love，were wrote by masculine，so the existing of Anne was became extraordinarily occasion time that a woman proving the love to her husband.
When she said " if ever wife was happy in a man，compare with me，ye woman，if you can." she is clearly in love with her husband and declares her love for him through out this passage. She feels this desire for him and his love for her is like no other in the world. She challenges any woman，who may claim they too have experienced this same kind of love.
She was thankfully valued their love，"I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East doth hold." and explains how their love is never changing even through difficult times. She describes his love as her sole satisfaction that "quenches" and said in the passage "My love is such that rivers cannot quench，Nor ought but love from thee，give recompense" her soul and she prays to the heavens that their infinite love will go on after their death. In this passage，"Thy love is such I can no way repay，The heavens reward thee manifold，I pray." She saying even if this love was a debt，or a something obligate would be harder for no way to pay back.
The last phrase of the poem，"Then while we live，in love let's so persever That when we live no more，we may live ever."determine the value of love when the person are alive，then if they are passed away.
V. Conclusion
In Anne Bradstreet poem，"To My Dear Loving Husband" it states the degree and intensity of love/marriage of Bradstreet and her husband. It is also very demonstrative of her religious beliefs，that through "right living，" in this case，a true，righteous marriage，the reward of everlasting life through love will be obtained. Generally，this poem seems to have almost a stoic to；the passion seems forced in some instances. After reading the background information on Bradstreet： the Puritan religion and the role of woman in that society，I question the sincerity of this poem. I wonder if it was written as a form of hidden sarcasm towards her husband，or maybe as one of the only acceptable means of expression for a female poet's heart. Bradstreet must have been in constant conflict between expressing her true thoughts and emotions because of her societal position and religious beliefs.
Overall，when reading "love" poetry，I prefer more dramatic and，well，exaggerated extremes of passion which is why，even after reading the background information，I am still not practically moved in this poem. The constraints that were placed on her by society and religion were partially responsible for the lack of faith in her writing. She knew that she could not overtly express her true feelings due to being banished by her religion and society as will. In the ending I believe this was the only outlet she to be able to express her ideas and feelings. In addition，I think that the poem was written in good faith，but lacked complete honesty.
References：
［1］Ball Kenneth R. “Puritan Humility in Anne Bradstreet’s Poem.”Cithara 13 （1973）： 29-30.
［2］Morgan，Edmund S. The Puritan Family： Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England. Rev. ed. New York： Harper 1996.
［3］Thickstun，Margaret Olofson. “Fictions of the Feminine： Puritan Doctrine and the representation of Women”，Ithaca： Cornell UP，1988.
［4］Waller，Jennifer R. “My Hand a Needle Better Fits’： Anne Bradstreet and Women Poets in the Renaissance.”Dalhousie Review 54 （1974）； 435-440.
［5］邵锦娣，白锦鹏， “An Introduction to Literature”，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002.
［6］吴伟仁，“History and Anthology of American Literature （volume 1）”，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1990.
［7］吴伟仁，印冰，“A Guide to History and Anthology of American Literature （volume 1）”，北京：中央民族大学出版社，2002.
Key Words： Anne Bradstreet；"To My Dear and Loving Husband"；poetic features；social background；theme
1、Introduction
In this paper，the author wants to review and examine Anne Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband." This poem was written in 1641，but was not published until 1678 after her death. Because of this，many believe it was written as a personal note to her husband and was not meant to be publicized. In order to analyze this work，I feel it is important to know a few facts about her life.
Anne Bradstreet was born Anne Dudley in Northhampton，England，in 1612. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke. She lived in a time when the amount of education that a woman received was little to none. Even though she did not attend school，she was privileged enough to receive her education from eight tutors and from her father，Thomas Dudley，who was always more than willing to teach her something new. She was a very inquisitive young person who satisfied her hunger for knowledge through her extensive reading of some of the greatest authors ever known. "Thanks to her father's position as the steward of the Earl of Lincoln estate，she had unlimited access to the great library of the manor. This is where she became exposed to the writings of many well known authors. In 1628 she married Simon Bradstreet，her father's assistant".（Waller，Jennifer R，1974： 435-437）
In 1629，her father and husband had joined a group of very successful men，whose goal was to protect Puritan values from people like the Bishop of Laud and establish their own society in a new land. On March 29，1630，Bradstreet and her family immigrated to the New World. Bradstreet was not too happy with the idea of giving up all of the benefits of the Earl's manor for what the wilderness of the New World had to offer. Nevertheless，Bradstreet spent three months on her ship，the Arbella，before she reached Salem on June 12，1630. Ten other ships reached the Salem port soon after hers.（Morgan，Edmund S.，1996：29-30）
When Bradstreet stepped foot on the soil of the New World，she was overwhelmed by the sickness，lack of food，and primitive living conditions. Regardless of all this hardship，she refused to give in and return to England and instead made the best of her new life. She struggled to raise eight children，take care of her home，and she still found time to write. Bradstreet lived a hard life，but she proved to be a strong women and this internal resolve is reflected in her writings. Bradstreet was bothered by the cultural bias toward women that was common in her time； the belief was that a woman's place was in the home attending to the family and her husband's needs. "Women were often considered intellectual inferiors and because of this，critics believed that Bradstreet stole her ideas for her poems from men. Her writing was severely criticized because it was that of a woman，receiving a different kind of criticism than that of her male counterparts."（Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988：34）The public had a similarly harsh reaction to Bradstreet's role as a female writer. When her first publication of The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was released，the idea that she was a virtuous women had to be stressed. John Woodbridge，her brother-in-law，had to write： "By a Gentle Women in Those Parts" on the title page to assure readers that Bradstreet did not neglect her duties as a Puritan woman in order to write，by making it clear that she found time for her poetry by giving up sleep and using what little leisure time she had. We can see the anger that Bradstreet feels towards this kind of criticism about her writing in the following lines of her work.
" The Prologue'：
I am obnoxious to each carping tongue
Who says my hand a needle better fits；
A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong，
For such despite they cast on female wits.
If what I do prove well，it won't advance；
They'll say it's stol'n，or else it was by chance."（Ball Kenneth R，1973： 29-30）.
Simon Bradstreet played a crucial role in many of Bradstreet's works. She wrote love poems about him when he was around as well as when he was away on trips. In Bradstreet's Puritan culture，the love between husband and wife was supposed to be slightly repressed，so as not to distract one from devotion to God. Yet，some of Bradstreet's sonnets work against this idea.
Another theme in Bradstreet's works was her religious experiences. In her writing Bradstreet gives an insight of Puritan views of salvation and redemption. "She writes about how she feels that God has punished her through her sicknesses and her domestic problems. The Puritans believed that suffering was God's way of preparing the heart for accepting His grace." （Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988：67）This idea plagued Bradstreet，and she wrote about how she struggled to do everything that she could to give into His will，in order to save her wondering soul. However，she thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband.
Bradstreet was not very successful with her first publications. The first edition of "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"was not very well received by critics. In writing "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America"，as with some of her later works，she tried to incorporate the style of the male authors that she respected. By doing so she was limiting her abilities and denying her feelings. The publication of her first works gave her the confidence and experience to be freer with her writing. In her later works，she began to write in her own style，where her own emotions were now more clearly expressed in her writings. "One of these later works isIn Honor of? That High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory'"（Waller，Jennifer R.，1974：438-440），in which Bradstreet proclaims that women are worth something. The use of her emotions in her writings is a technique that changed Anne Bradstreet from a good writer into a great writer.
II. The poetic features of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
To My Dear and Loving Husband
If ever two were one，then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd 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 ought but love from thee，give recompetence.
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.
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" was written by America's first female poet，the Puritan，Anne Bradstreet. In fact，Anne Bradstreet is one of only a handful of female American poets during the first 200 years of America's history. "After Bradstreet，one can list only Phillis Wheatley，the 18th century black female poet，Emma Lazarus，the 19th century poet whose famous words appear on the Statue of Liberty，and the 19th century Emily Dickinson，America's most famous female poet." （Waller，Jennifer R，1974： 435-437）."To My Dear and Loving Husband" has several standard poetic features. One is the two line rhyme scheme. Another is the anaphora，the repetition of a phrase，in the first three lines. And a third is the popular iambic pentameter.
"Iambic pentameter is characterized by an unrhymed line with five feet or accents.” （邵锦娣，白锦鹏，2002：354） . Each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable，as in "da Dah，da Dah，da Dah，da Dah，da Dah."
In the poem，the author uses literary concept such as rhyme to make the poem more fun to read and easy to understand. In the line "I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold，" "or all the riches that the East doth hold." This tell us that she value their love very much that money can't buy. She doesn't care how rich the people in the East are，she feel rich and happy already because of the love she and her husband share. Anne said she is a happy wife because he has gives all her happiness. Where the line indicate this is "If ever wife was happy in man，compare with me，ye woman，if you can"，has simply tell us that she feel happy and live a happy life because she is proud of the love she and her husband have for each other.
Another literary concept of the poem is that the author is the speaker for this poem. The author is telling us her point of view of the love she have for her husband，and how much she cherish it. She strongly believes that their love can be preserve and that it will live forever. In the last line of the poem where it said "then while we live，in love let's so persever，then when we live no more，we may live ever." The author is speaking from her point of view that she believe even if one day that they are dead，that their love will still live on forever.
III. The Social Background of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
The subject of Anne Bradstreet's love poem is her professed love for her husband. She praises him and asks the heavens to reward him for his love. "The poem is a touching display of love and affection，extraordinarily uncommon for the Puritan era of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in which Anne Bradstreet lived. Puritan women were expected to be reserved，domestic，and subservient to their husbands. They were not expected or allowed to exhibit their wit，charm，intelligence，or passion. John Winthrop，the Massachusetts governor，once remarked that women who exercised wit or intelligence were apt to go insane.''（Morgan，Edmund S，1996： 69）.
The men in Anne Bradstreet's family were managers and politicians. Both her father and her husband became Massachusetts governors. Her husband，Simon，often traveled for weeks throughout the colony as its administrator. Anne Bradstreet's poem，"To My Dear and Loving Husband，" was written as a response to her husband's absence.
Very little is known about Anne Bradstreet's life in Massachusetts. There are no portraits of her，and she does not even have a grave marker. She and her family moved several times，each time further away from Boston into the frontier. Anne and Simon had 8 children during a 10 year period，and all of the children survived healthy and safe，a remarkable accomplishment considering the health risks and the security hazards of the period.
Anne Bradstreet was highly intelligent and largely self-educated. She took herself seriously as an intellectual and a poet，reading widely in history，science，art，and literature. Her library，before the house burned in 1666，numbered about 800 volumes. However，as a good Puritan woman，Bradstreet did not make her accomplishments public.
Bradstreet wrote poetry for herself，family，and friends，never meaning to publish them. "Consider that her friend，Anne Hutchinson was intellectual，educated and led women' s prayer meetings where alternative religious beliefs were discussed. She was labeled a heretic and banished from the colony. Hutchinson eventually died in an Indian attack.''（Thickstun，Margaret Olofson，1988： 52）. Is it any wonder that Anne Bradstreet was hesitant to publish her poetry and call attention to herself.
Anne Bradstreet's early poems were secretly taken by her brother-in-law to England and published in a small volume when she was 38. The volume sold well in England，but the poems were not nearly as accomplished as her later works. Bradstreet's later works were not published during her lifetime. Her poems about her love for her husband were private and personal，meant to be shared only with her family and friends. Though her health was frequently a concern，especially during childbirth，Anne Bradstreet lived until 60 years of age.
IV. The Theme of "To My Dear Loving Husband"
This is a love poem wrote by Anne Bradstreet. She dictated by her emotion which was such great love for her husband，that she wished their love will be honored even after their death，and said " If ever two were one，then surely we，if ever man were loved by wife，then thee：" Usually in the earlier writers，majority of the poems，describing the love，were wrote by masculine，so the existing of Anne was became extraordinarily occasion time that a woman proving the love to her husband.
When she said " if ever wife was happy in a man，compare with me，ye woman，if you can." she is clearly in love with her husband and declares her love for him through out this passage. She feels this desire for him and his love for her is like no other in the world. She challenges any woman，who may claim they too have experienced this same kind of love.
She was thankfully valued their love，"I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East doth hold." and explains how their love is never changing even through difficult times. She describes his love as her sole satisfaction that "quenches" and said in the passage "My love is such that rivers cannot quench，Nor ought but love from thee，give recompense" her soul and she prays to the heavens that their infinite love will go on after their death. In this passage，"Thy love is such I can no way repay，The heavens reward thee manifold，I pray." She saying even if this love was a debt，or a something obligate would be harder for no way to pay back.
The last phrase of the poem，"Then while we live，in love let's so persever That when we live no more，we may live ever."determine the value of love when the person are alive，then if they are passed away.
V. Conclusion
In Anne Bradstreet poem，"To My Dear Loving Husband" it states the degree and intensity of love/marriage of Bradstreet and her husband. It is also very demonstrative of her religious beliefs，that through "right living，" in this case，a true，righteous marriage，the reward of everlasting life through love will be obtained. Generally，this poem seems to have almost a stoic to；the passion seems forced in some instances. After reading the background information on Bradstreet： the Puritan religion and the role of woman in that society，I question the sincerity of this poem. I wonder if it was written as a form of hidden sarcasm towards her husband，or maybe as one of the only acceptable means of expression for a female poet's heart. Bradstreet must have been in constant conflict between expressing her true thoughts and emotions because of her societal position and religious beliefs.
Overall，when reading "love" poetry，I prefer more dramatic and，well，exaggerated extremes of passion which is why，even after reading the background information，I am still not practically moved in this poem. The constraints that were placed on her by society and religion were partially responsible for the lack of faith in her writing. She knew that she could not overtly express her true feelings due to being banished by her religion and society as will. In the ending I believe this was the only outlet she to be able to express her ideas and feelings. In addition，I think that the poem was written in good faith，but lacked complete honesty.
References：
［1］Ball Kenneth R. “Puritan Humility in Anne Bradstreet’s Poem.”Cithara 13 （1973）： 29-30.
［2］Morgan，Edmund S. The Puritan Family： Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England. Rev. ed. New York： Harper 1996.
［3］Thickstun，Margaret Olofson. “Fictions of the Feminine： Puritan Doctrine and the representation of Women”，Ithaca： Cornell UP，1988.
［4］Waller，Jennifer R. “My Hand a Needle Better Fits’： Anne Bradstreet and Women Poets in the Renaissance.”Dalhousie Review 54 （1974）； 435-440.
［5］邵锦娣，白锦鹏， “An Introduction to Literature”，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002.
［6］吴伟仁，“History and Anthology of American Literature （volume 1）”，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1990.
［7］吴伟仁，印冰，“A Guide to History and Anthology of American Literature （volume 1）”，北京：中央民族大学出版社，2002.