Craig Space: Poetry: Anne Bradstreet, "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

To My Dear and Loving Husband

By Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet lived from A.D. 1612-1672. She lived in Massachusetts in what was at the time the British North American colonies but would later be the United States. Sam Hamill says this about her:

"...(She) is often called the first poet of the United States, and may have been the first professional woman poet in the English language. When her first book was published in London, she was hailed as "the Tenth Muse." She was a scholar of English, French and classical literature and spoke out for the rights of Puritan women.

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
compare with me ye women if you can.
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,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Source for text and information: "The Erotic Spirit: An Anthology of Poems of Sensuality, Love and Longing", translated, edited w/introduction by Sam Hamill. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1996.

Poetry

Craig Space