Anne Bradstreet And Phillis Wheatly

3 Pages 690 Words

Phillis Wheatly and Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatly are two women in American Literature who are greatly respected for the works of poetry they have created. Phillis Wheatly is of a patriotic writer. Writing for the love she has for her country and countrymen. She is not shy when addressing the beauty of the land and its people. Whereas, Anne Bradstreet is more of an individual poet who draws on personal experiences based on her through her life. Both women are fabulous writers but have two different ways of writing.

In Anne Bradstreet’s poem The Four Ages of Man she is writing about the birth and life of a child. The way the tone is set in this poem is a very melancholy dreary tone almost with a hint of hate. The emotions that this person is going through are feelings of not being worthy. In the poem it states that the child doesn’t even feel deserving of its own mother’s breast milk. And as this child develops Anne Bradstreet writes about lack of motivation this person has and thinks he will never amount to anything.

Anne Bradstreet changes the somber tone for a more serious confessional like tone in To My Dear and Loving Husband. She expresses this love with straightforward statements that make the reader believe in this pure romance between this man and wife. In this she writes about her great romance with her husband that she loves and respects more than anything. Love is the most difficult thing to describe but I think she did an amazing job. When Anne Bradstreet said, “My love is such that rivers could not quench” she hit it right on the nose.

Phillis Wheatly on the other hand takes a less personal approach and has a more global feel. In her poem On the Death of the Revered Mr. George Whitefield she writes about a well-respected man. The historical context she uses is the mention of the Countess of Huntington. Also the way Mr. Whitefield dreamed of America’s greatnes...