LITR 5535: American Romanticism
Student Student Poetry Presentation, summer 2002

Anne Bradstreet, “To my Dear and Loving Husband,” N 141.

poetry reader: Michelle Glenn
recorder: Liz Sydnor
Tuesday, 4 June 

            Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is first and foremost affiliated with Romanticism because it is romantic, in the sense that popular culture uses the term.  Whether the reader is familiar with the Romantic movement or not,  surely he/she can recognize the intensity of Bradstreet’s love for her husband.  The poem seems to be a catharsis for Bradstreet.  The reader simply cannot read through the poem without being confronted with Bradstreet’s genuine love and sentiment for her husband.

            Aside from this, romantic tendencies present themselves in the form of idealism, transcendence, nature, desire, individualism, and the discussion of an exotic place.  The idealism comes into play as she elevates her love, describing it as unique and unquenchable.  Some would even go as far as to say that she discusses it as almost unattainable compared to the relationships of other couples.  Certainly, as Bradstreet hints to in the last two lines of this poem, a love like this transcends time.  Romanticism is also present in Bradstreet’s poem through the use of nature.  This can be seen in the line stating “My love is such that rivers cannot quench.” Another quality of Romanticism, desire, presents itself in the fact that this poem focuses on a longing for her husband, rather than a duty towards him.  Not only this, but romantic tendencies such as individualism are also present in Bradstreet’s poem because she had no intention of publishing it.  Lastly, an interest in an exotic place often presents itself in romantic pieces.  In this case, Heaven is the exotic place, as Bradstreet holds it so close to her heart. 

            The form of the poem is likened to a sonnet, featuring rhyming couplets and repetition of select words.  In studying how this poem could be considered romantic, it is important to note that sonnets are often seen as the foundation of love or romantic poetry.

            The only quality of this poem that seems to defy Romanticism, particularly the individualistic notion that it entails, is the manner in which Bradstreet compares herself to others.  At times, she even seems to be boasting about their love.  Taken together, these two things seem to associate her as part of the status quo, rather than someone who is going against the flow of it. 

Question for discussion: How could the topic of this poem, marriage, be related to Romanticism?      

Although there is much to be said about Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” the discussion about the poem both opened with and continually focused on the romantic tendencies that it seemed to possess or oppose.  Before moving on to the more ambiguous ways in which the poem might be interpreted as romantic, I mentioned that the poem is romantic in the popular usage of the term.   Everyone in the class appeared to agree with this.  After this, I briefly explained other ways that I found the poem to have romantic tendencies.  These tendencies came in forms such as a nature reference, the presence of idealistic values, ideas of transcendentalism, desire rather than duty to a husband, Heaven as an exotic place (dreamer syndrome), and even in the structure of the poem (very sonnet-like, love poetry).  I opened up the discussion with the question: “How can the topic of this poem, marriage, be related to Romanticism?” 

            During the discussion, Beth commented that the poem seems to go back to the time of Adam and Eve and that it is related to certain issues of domesticity.  Krisann, prompted by my question, responded that the ceremony was integral in understanding how the poem related to Romanticism.  With a traditional marriage ceremony, love is often said to outlast the grave.  In response, Lynda said that it sounded like Bradstreet had a very modern view of what a marriage should be.  Expanding on this, Dr. White explained that the Puritans were not as anti-women as they may seem to have been and that Puritan women had as high a rate of literacy as one could find in any middle class community of the time.  Jill then commented on the Puritans’ motives for teaching literacy to the women and how it backfired on them to some extent.  In getting back to the actual poem, Alvaro was interested in the fact that the poem was abstract.  He said that Bradstreet wrote in a sensual manner, without being carnal.  Dr. White and several other students gave examples of how this technique is often achieved in movies.  Much along the same lines, Natasha gave the class some insight on the religious significance of the line “rivers cannot quench.”  This phrase is a Biblical allusion from the Song of Solomon, which she believed was placed there intentionally for sensual, but proper purposes.  In further discussing the poem, Kelly and Melissa talked about the last lines being hopeful and certain that the couple’s love will go beyond the grave.  Jill added to this with a connection to Adam and Eve and the idea of continuation after death.  I then introduced my theory of how Romanticism could be related to this poem in the pleasure verses pain aspect of a marital relationship.  In closing the discussion, I asked for opinions on something about the poem that was troublesome to me: In using the word “we,” how can the poem still be considered individualistic?  In answer to this, both Jill and Kelly agreed that the poem could still be looked at as individual because of the oneness of the marriage ceremony.