Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet, Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

"Yea, so it was, and 'twas just
It was His own, it was not mine
...
When by the ruins oft I past
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,
...
Adieu, Adieu, all's vanity.
...
Yet, by His gift is made thine own:
There's wealth enough, I need no more.
Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store."

The last line is the window to Bradstreet's mind since it shows that she thinks of her belongings as pelf, or stolen/falsely gained goods.

But almost more interesting than that is the fact that she had written this, "after the burning of her house when she lost her personal library of 800 books. (link)"

As she is lamenting the loss of her things she makes no attempt to hold onto the memory or any part of the items she lost. She consoles herself by saying they were all God's things that she had stole and hid up, but still we can see the sorrow in her writings because she did enjoy having the books.

With just a little more history, a poem can take on a whole new meaning. Perhaps, this poem was a way for her to reconcile the events that she perceived as God's judgment on her store or as a way to let go on the attachment she once had on her books that are now burnt.

Not blaming God for doing what is considered to be an "act of God" is a common theme among her poems. After coming all the way to America and trying to concive 8 times, having a child die as well, she does not blame or question God for allowing these events to happen. In this writters view, her poems are with blame: things happen and times are hard, but no one is to blame for them happening.