"Contemplations"

Paper Summary:

This paper notes that Anne Bradstreet was a female Puritan poet who was not afraid to be open about her feelings in spite of the Puritan belief that it was unacceptable for a woman to openly express her feelings. The paper then examines how, in her poem "Contemplations", Bradstreet openly expressed her viewpoints about life, religion, and nature. Through the use of biblical scriptures and imagery concerning the beauty of nature, the paper analyzes how the overall idea of Anne Bradstreet's "Contemplations" is brilliantly conveyed throughout the thirty-three stanzas of the poem. The paper conclues that, by reading Bradstreet's work, one cannot bypass the primary message that man may not have the beauty and longevity of nature, but heavenly salvation triumphs over all earthy things.

From the Paper:

"Bradstreet had a very strong appreciation for nature and the beauty of God's creations. In the beginning stanzas of "Contemplations," she goes into great detail when describing the images she sees, such as the beautiful colors of the leaves that adorn the trees in the autumn. Paula Kopacz states, in her essay pertaining to this poem, that Bradstreet relates her experiences with the beauty of nature with her spiritual beliefs; if God created the wondrous things that exist in nature, then, indeed He must be a spectacular being (2). In stanza three, Bradstreet is filled with awe as she reflects on the strength and stature of an oak tree: "Then on a stately Oak I cast mine eye / Whose ruffling top the clouds seem to aspire" (Lines 22-23). She then ponders about the many hundreds of years the Oak tree has existed on the earth, and she, in turn, compares this to the short length of man's life. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. A. New York:
• W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
• Bradstreet, Anne. "Contemplations." Baym 263.
• Kopacz, Paula. "Essay Review on 'Contemplations.'" Masterplots II: Poetry - Revised

More papers on "Contemplations":

• Analytical Essay # 51914 : "Les Contemplations"
• Essay # 141909 : "Plotinus and Contemplation"
• Analytical Essay # 123298 : "The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel"

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