Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Puritan Literature

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
"Verses Upon the Burning of Our House"
Anne Bradstreet

In silent night when rest I took,
For sorrow near I did not look,
I waken'd was with thund'ring noise
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
That fearful sound of "fire" and "fire,"
Let no man know is my Desire.
I starting up, the light did spy,
And to my God my heart did cry
To straighten me in my Distress
And not to leave me succourless.
Then coming out, behold a space
The flame consume my dwelling place.
And when I could no longer look,
I blest his grace that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just.
It was his own; it was not mine.
Far be it that I should repine,
He might of all justly bereft
But yet sufficient for us left.
When by the Ruins oft I past
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast
And here and there the places spy
Where oft I sate and long did lie.
Here stood that Trunk, and there that chest,
There lay that store I counted best,
My pleasant things in ashes lie
And them behold no more shall I.
Under the roof no guest shall sit,
Nor at thy Table eat a bit.
No pleasant talk shall 'ere be told
Nor things recounted done of old.
No Candle 'ere shall shine in Thee,
Nor bridegroom's voice ere heard shall bee.
In silence ever shalt thou lie.
Adieu, Adieu, All's Vanity.
Then straight I 'gin my heart to chide:
And did thy wealth on earth abide,
Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,
The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
That dunghill mists away may fly.
Thou hast a house on high erect
Fram'd by that mighty Architect,
With glory richly furnished
Stands permanent, though this be fled.
It's purchased and paid for too
By him who hath enough to do.
A price so vast as is unknown,
Yet by his gift is made thine own.
There's wealth enough; I need no more.
Farewell, my pelf; farewell, my store.
The world no longer let me love;
My hope and Treasure lies above.

1. Which Puritan ideologies (beliefs) are present in this work?
2. Select one quote from the passage and explain its significance.

Note: If you published a comment today, it was removed, but I have it saved.

21 comments:

  1. Moving on is a Puritan ideologie that is present in this poem. The writer talks about having to let go of her store, because it was ruined in a fire. She said “ It was his own, it was not mine”. This was saying that the store was gods and that she did not own it anymore because god has it now. Puritans think that god controls everything and that he gets what he wants.

    -Evan Kircher

    ReplyDelete
  2. The ideologie that is present in this poem is moving on. "The flame consume my dwelling place". This is saying that her store had caught on fire. The puritans believe that god controls everything they do. When you disobey god you get punished badly for it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The ideologie that is present in this poem is moving on. "The flame consume my dwelling place". This is saying that her store had caught on fire. The puritans believe that god controls everything they do. When you disobey god you get punished badly for it.

    -Allie

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The ideologie is life will keep moving on. Puritans are very stong belivers in god. They worship god and believe that if you do bad god will do bad things to you and if you do good things god will praise you. The signifance of this passage is to potray to you that even tho bad things happen to you your life will continue to go on.The quote I feel is most apropreit is "The world no longer let me love; My hope and treasure lies above." I feel this was because even tho she lost her beloved store in a fire she believes that all the items in the store and everthing she put into it is now in heaven where god is.
    -Macy Maahs-

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Puritan ideology that is present in this poem is the idea that everything happens for a reason. Another Puritan belief is that if you do wrong it is in God’s hands and that we have to accept things and let it go. A quote from this passage is “I blest his grace that gave and took, that laid my goods now in the dust. Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just. It was his own; it was not mine. Far be it that I should repine.” I think this means that she appreciates what God has given her. Also, she is saying how her belongings in the house weren’t really hers anyway, it was God’s and he took it back. This is one of the Puritan’s belief that she believed as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The ideology in this poem is letting go and moving on. The Putitans belive strongly in god, so she knows that he did that for a reason. In this quote "The world no longer let me love;
    My hope and Treasure lies above." I think the significance is that even though her store burnt down is still has hope. Also that she should move on and see what else life has in store for her.

    Rachel Hobbs.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The ideology in the poem is moving on. The writer says "Farewell, my pelf; farewell, my store", talking about her store that she has lost in a fire. She has to move on and believe that everything happened for a reason. The puritans were strong believers of god so she believed it was just his will.

    - Adrian Feliciano

    ReplyDelete
  9. The ideology in the poem is letting go. The puritans strongly believed in god. They believed that god had a direct impacted in everything in life. In the quote "There's wealth enough; I need no more.", she believe that all she needs is god and that physical possessions are a luxury and not needed.

    -Shaun Vanderslice

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chris strouse, the belief that is in this poem is that the puritans belive that these things happen for a specific reason.For example if my friend dies on the ship insted of me saying that some thing killed him, i would just say that this happened because god wanted it to.The quote i picked was that the flame consume my dwelling place, this means that her special place her store was destroid in a fire.

    ReplyDelete
  11. In this poem, the Puritan idelogoie is moving on and letting go. Everything the Puritans believe in always has an affect on god. For instance, if you do good things to god, you will receive good things in return. If you were to make god mad and disobey him, you will be punished in a bad way. The quote says that "The world no longer let me love, my hope and treasure lies above." This quote explains that when the womans house had burned down, everything was then in gods hands in heaven. The significance of this poem is to show that when bad things are happening in your life that your life will still continue on.
    -Stacy Ecret

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Puritan idelogoie has to do with the woman letting go of her house that burned down. Its shows that they believe moving on and letting go is important. Their strong belief consists of them believing that if you do good things God grants you good things, but if you go against what he says or the beliefs of him then you will be strongly punishment sometimes leads to death. Quoted “That fearful sound of "fire" and "fire,"
    Let no man know is my Desire.” Which means that she heard the fire coming but she shall not tell anyone because she believes that it is in Gods hands and whatever happens, happens and it is in his control.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The belief in this poem is letting go and moving on. The puritans are big on god. They believe that everything relates to god. Whether its getting something good or bad no matter what they think god has forced it. The quote "A price so vast as is unknown,Yet by his gift is made thine own," this quote is basically saying that you can't put a price on things and that whatever you are granted with you should always enjoy

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Puritan ideology present in this poem is that life will always keep moving on, no matter what. Everything that happens, happens for a reason and it is all in God's hands. A quote from the passage is "It was his own; it was not mine. Far be it that I should repine". In this quote, the author is basically saying that everything she owned was brought to her by God's good will and that if God wants her to recieve all of these things again, He will allow her to.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Puritan idelogoie that is going on in this poem is letting go of her house and moving on from everything. She just has to let everything go. If it was suppose to happen it happens because god wanted it to happen. "Farewell, my pelf; farewell, my store.The world no longer let me love" the meaning of this is that god is trying to make her let go of her store and home. She is finding out that the belief in god is big. So it is tell her to just let it all go.

    Dougie Bell

    ReplyDelete
  16. The ideology in this Puritan poem is moving on, or "leaving it in God's hands" as the puritans say. Since it was happening God had something to do with it. It was his own; it was not mine. This quote means just that. God is taking back what is actually his.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The ideology in this poem is believing in our higher power and leaving everything in God's hands. Everything we do and have is influenced by God. The quote from the passage I chose was "I blest his grace that gave and took." The significance of this quote to me is that she feels blessed and honored by the things that God has provided to her for the time that she had them even though they were taken away.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The ideology in this poem is believing in our higher power and leaving everything in God's hands. Everything we do and have is influenced by God. The quote from the passage I chose was "I blest his grace that gave and took." The significance of this quote to me is that she feels blessed and honored by the things that God has provided to her for the time that she had them even though they were taken away.

    Haley Mason

    ReplyDelete
  19. The ideology in this poem tells about higher power. No matter what everythings going to be moving on. They believe that God is the source of everything that happens. the quote I chose "it was his own it was not mine far be it that I should repine." what this quote says that everything that she has ever had he ot it because of God.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The puritan beliefs in this work are the beliefs of having god decide your life, make your own decisions and choose your fate and etc. The puritans used this as an everyday life alternative. The quote "My pleasant things in ashes lie,And them behold no more shall I" helps the writer explain that his only good features were in his ashes which weren't there anymore so as long as his ashes ( qualaties ) were gone then so was he.

    ReplyDelete
  21. That last comment was Seth

    ReplyDelete