Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet

1. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666by Anne Bradstreet Feature Menu Introducing the Poem Literary Focus: The Plain Style Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Inversion

2. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet

3. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties. —Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)

4. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet In this poem, the speaker awakens to shouts of “Fire!” • She escapes from her burning house and then watches the flames consume it. • The shock of losing her house causes her to reflect on what truly matters to her.

5. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus: The Plain Style Puritan writers favored the plain style—a way of writing that stresses • simplicity • clarity of expression • the use of everyday words Puritan writings may now seem hard to read, but to readers in the 1600s, they sounded simple and direct.

6. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus: The Plain Style According to Benjamin Franklin (not a Puritan) plain style writing should be “smooth, clear, and short.” Perhaps this style has persisted over time because it appeals to American democracy: * its straightforwardness * its ability to be understood by all * the fact that it doesn’t hide the naked truth.

7. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus: The Plain Style Although Bradstreet uses figurative language in her poetry, her writing is still influenced by strong, simple Puritan style and diction (word choice). “Here stood that trunk, and there that chest, There lay that store I counted best.” Vocabulary: “trunk” and “chest” refer to storage “store” refers to a great quantity or an abundance of items

8. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus: Figurative language Figurative language in this poem includes the use of extended metaphor.

9. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Extended Metaphor Extended metaphor – a lengthy comparison of two seemingly unlike things without the use of a connecting word Bradstreet speaks of another house. The house is Heaven – her heavenly home of the future Bradstreet refers to the “mighty Architect” of that house The Architect (or designer/builder) is God. This house is better than her earthly home because it is furnished with spiritual glory.

10. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Inversion Inversion is the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase. • Poets often use inversion to accommodate the demands of meter and rhyme. My pleasant things lie in ashes, And I shall behold them no more. Normal order Inversion “My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold no more shall I.”

11. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Meter Meter - iambic tetrameter - iambic meter creates a meter that closely resembles the way humans speak - ta tah ta tah ta tah ta tah U / U / U / U / In silent night when rest I took Iamb (the type of foot) Tetrameter (number of feet) – Four feet (four sets of iambs)

12. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Meter Iambic Couplet – this poem is written in iambic couplets Iambic refers to rhythmical pattern of unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Couplet refers to two successive lines that rhyme. U / U / U / U / In silent night when rest I took U / U / U / U / For sorrow near I did not look

13. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Rhyme Rhyme – repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables • End rhyme– rhyming words at the end of a line • Exact rhyme– perfect rhyme “took” and “look” • Approximate rhyme (near rhyme, slant rhyme, half rhyme, imperfect rhyme)– close correspondence in sound but not perfect “I wakened was with thundering noise And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.”

14. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Repetition Repetition – purposeful poetic repetition to create an impact. Ex: lines 30-35 “Nor at they table eat a bit No pleasant tale shall e’er be told, Nor things recounted don of old. No candle e’er shall shine in thee, Nor bridegroom’s voice e’er heard shall be.”

15. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Repetition Theme: an insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work; rarely directly stated; different than subject. (Although this poem’s subject is the burning of Bradstreet’s house, this is not its theme.) Recurring theme: a theme that occurs in many of an author’s writing. Bradstreet’s poems contain a recurring theme of Puritan belief that one must not become too attached to things of the world.

16. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Turning point Turning point: the point in the poem where the author finishes narrating an incident and begins to draw conclusions from the incident. Where is the turning point in this poem? The turning point in Bradstreet’s poem begins around line 35 “In silence ever shall thou lie, Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity. Then straight I ‘gin my heart to chide, And did thy wealth on earth abide?”