If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved 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 recompense.
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.
Anne Bradstreet uses the core basic themes of love (a lot of it), marriage, and death. Her Puritan upbringing also influenced her to discreetly slip in some allusions to Christianity. With love, she compares them as one, for their love binds them together, inseparable. She dares women to compete with her of how happy and in love she is with her husband, for she is so much so no one in her eyes could be happier. Treasures and nature, or anything on earth for that matter, can quell her love for him. She also believes that she, receiving her husband's love, is so great that there is no way she can ever repay him. Only Heave itself can reward him for his great love towards her. She also says to him may their love live on forever by making it greater and even more beautiful now. Others shall remember their love (like we are seeing now), and also, they can be together in Heaven for eternity, praising and loving God.
I love your loving title! Yup, she definitely uses lots of love in her poems, but her expression of it and the fact that she has so much passion in such a simple form makes her writing super delightful!
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