My head, my heart, mine eyes, my life, nay more,
My joy, my magazine, of earthly store,
If two be one, as surely thou and I,
How stayest thou there, whilst I at Ipswich lie?
So many steps, head from the heart to sever,
If but a neck, soon should we be together.
I, like the Earth this season, mourn in black,
My Sun is gone so far in's zodiac,
Whom whilst I 'joyed, nor storms, nor frost I felt,
His warmth such fridged colds did cause to melt.
My chilled limbs now numbed lie forlorn;
Return; return, sweet Sol, from Capricorn;
In this dead time, alas, what can I more
Than view those fruits which through thy heart I bore?
Which sweet contentment yield me for a space,
True living pictures of their father's face.
O strange effect! now thou art southward gone,
I weary grow the tedious day so long;
But when thou northward to me shalt return,
I wish my Sun may never set, but burn
Within the Cancer of my glowing breast,
The welcome house of him my dearest guest.
Where ever, ever stay, and go not thence,
Till nature's sad decree shall call thee hence;
Flesh of thy flesh, bone of thy bone,
I here, thou there, yet both but one.
In the poem, “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment”, Anne Bradstreet expresses an intimate and emotional side of her writing and self. In her poem she explains how she misses the presence of her husband who is always away for business. In the poem reveals the setting and the time in line 8-9 when she says, “My Sun is gone so far in's zodiac, whom whilst I 'joyed, nor storms, nor frost I felt”. By saying this she is explaining that it is the summer. She also is comparing the summer and winter seasons with how she misses her husband. She mentions that though her days are short because it is the summer time, her husband’s absence makes her day long like winter days. The tone of the poem overall is that it is romantic and wistful. Throughout the poem, she mentions intimate, sensual, and romantic things with her and her husband. One example is in line 13-14, “n this dead time, alas, what can I more Than view those fruits which through thy heart I bore?’ She is basically saying that it is hard to look at her children because it reminds of her husband. This could also be interpreted at the thought of how her children were conceived. If this is accurate then this is controversial because she is a Puritan. This could lead us to believe that she was a puritan. Overall, the poem’s theme is the how one can be affected by the absence of a loved one.
My joy, my magazine, of earthly store,
If two be one, as surely thou and I,
How stayest thou there, whilst I at Ipswich lie?
So many steps, head from the heart to sever,
If but a neck, soon should we be together.
I, like the Earth this season, mourn in black,
My Sun is gone so far in's zodiac,
Whom whilst I 'joyed, nor storms, nor frost I felt,
His warmth such fridged colds did cause to melt.
My chilled limbs now numbed lie forlorn;
Return; return, sweet Sol, from Capricorn;
In this dead time, alas, what can I more
Than view those fruits which through thy heart I bore?
Which sweet contentment yield me for a space,
True living pictures of their father's face.
O strange effect! now thou art southward gone,
I weary grow the tedious day so long;
But when thou northward to me shalt return,
I wish my Sun may never set, but burn
Within the Cancer of my glowing breast,
The welcome house of him my dearest guest.
Where ever, ever stay, and go not thence,
Till nature's sad decree shall call thee hence;
Flesh of thy flesh, bone of thy bone,
I here, thou there, yet both but one.
In the poem, “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment”, Anne Bradstreet expresses an intimate and emotional side of her writing and self. In her poem she explains how she misses the presence of her husband who is always away for business. In the poem reveals the setting and the time in line 8-9 when she says, “My Sun is gone so far in's zodiac, whom whilst I 'joyed, nor storms, nor frost I felt”. By saying this she is explaining that it is the summer. She also is comparing the summer and winter seasons with how she misses her husband. She mentions that though her days are short because it is the summer time, her husband’s absence makes her day long like winter days. The tone of the poem overall is that it is romantic and wistful. Throughout the poem, she mentions intimate, sensual, and romantic things with her and her husband. One example is in line 13-14, “n this dead time, alas, what can I more Than view those fruits which through thy heart I bore?’ She is basically saying that it is hard to look at her children because it reminds of her husband. This could also be interpreted at the thought of how her children were conceived. If this is accurate then this is controversial because she is a Puritan. This could lead us to believe that she was a puritan. Overall, the poem’s theme is the how one can be affected by the absence of a loved one.