Anne Bradstreet Response

Anne Bradstreet wrote many good poems in her day. A very good one is “To My Dear Loving Husband.” She writes this about her husband and how she truly feels about him. Beneath this poem though, she gives a message: love is an everlasting, priceless bond. This poem is not just about her relationship but love itself. She wants everyone to know the true meaning of love and she uses her love as an example because it is so enduring. This can be shown through her syntax and diction. The message she tries to deliver besides her own perfect love is that love itself is enduring, eternal, precious thing.
To start, the definition of love (although there are many) is a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. When there is a deep affection there is a tight bond between whoever has this feeling and whoever the feeling is towards. Bradstreet proves this point by saying, “If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee…,” (Bradstreet 1-2). She is saying that their bond was so strong that it was as if they were one and no better sentence (or poem) structure could have been chosen. Their love was inseparable; their love always kept them together and would see them through anything, claiming the notion that it is enduring. It also gives the power to endure. “Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere, that when we live no more, we may live forever,” is also a proving statement of a person’s endurance towards love (Bradstreet 11-12). She uses the word “persevere” which basically means to survive or live through. She ties this in with her last line which brings together the point that she will persevere anything, good or bad and if even death overcomes them, they will be together in spirit. They also say this in weddings to prove your devotion to your spouse: “Until death do us part.” This is a very strong bond and especially Bradstreet’s because she said even after death, they will be together.
Another thing stated in her poem is that love is priceless. There is nothing that she would trade for the bond between her and her husband. This is made evident with the lines, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East doth hold,” (Bradstreet 5-6). She wouldn’t even trade her love for gold mines; she says not just one gold mine, but more than one. Not even all the riches in the east can compare to the happiness she has with her family. If love is strong enough to turn back gold mines (which were much more valuable then than they are now) then surely it is a valueless bond. She also says “My love is such that rivers cannot quench,” (Bradstreet 8). This metaphor is saying that her thirst for love (like a thirst for water) cannot be satisfied with even a river. Nothing can take the place or change the way she feels about her spouse. She truly does have great compassion for her partner and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Many things have changed now; love does not have the same meaning as it did then, and although this isn’t her message (because she had no idea how things would turn out in the future) she still explains what love is. The bond of love is a persevering, priceless, precious bond that can’t be replaced by anything. The care and affection given, not only to one’s spouse, but to one’s family is an all-powerful bond. Sometimes it even makes people do crazy things or put themselves in harm’s way, just to have the thought that whoever you are protecting is safe. Anne Bradstreet shows true affection for her husband with this poem, and also describes the true meaning of love.