The Poem, by Anne Bradstreet is about a Puritan wife who expresses her devotion and love to her husband. This is not a typical behavior in most Puritan households where duty is usually placed above love. Bradstreet uses figurative language to describe her love, such as “"I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the east doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench,..." (5-7) She describes her union with her husband in the opening line, “If ever two were one than surly we” She feels that their union has produced one soul and one purpose in life, to live as one person with the same feelings and hopes and dreams. The next line, “If ever man were loved by wife; than thee”, says that she loves him as much as any wife could love a husband. She wants to express to her husband that no one could love him as much as she. In her final lines, “Then when we live, in love let's so persever, That when we live no more we may live ever”, suggests that her love will travel into death. This poem leads us to believe that the lifestyle of the Puritans wasn’t all obeying the husband and duty to the chores and household, but love was present in some families. Anne Bradstreet certainly displays this feeling in her poem. It is sweet and endearing and gives us envy for this Puritan wife’s husband. He is truly a lucky man.
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