To my Dear and Loving

Husband Analysis
Line 1
She begins the poem, To my Dear and Loving Husband, with a proclamation.
“If ever two were one, then surely we”.
This reveals her truly deep love for her husband by claiming that if any two people in
the history of marriages have ever been bonded together as though they were one
person, then surely she and her husband are bonded together in this deep and
intimate way.

Line 2
In the second line, Bradstreet reassures her husband of her own love and
commitment to him by claiming that she loves him as much as any woman as ever
loved a man. This is a great claim, as there are countless lovers in the world. But she
is confident that she loves her husband as much as any woman has ever loved a
man.

Lines 3-4
In the third and fourth lines, she reassures her husband that she is happy with him.
She challenges him to compare her with any other woman and see that she herself is
happiest of all women because she is married to him.

Lines 5-6
In the fifth and sixth lines, she proclaims to her husband that his love is worth far
more to her than any amount of money could ever be worth. She claims that she
values his love “more than whole mines of gold” and even more than “all the riches
that the East doth hold”. This shows that she values the human feeling of love in
connection and commitment with another person far more than she could ever value
any amount of material wealth.
Line 7
In the seventh line, she reveals that even though she is happiest of women, she does
not count herself fully satisfied, because the nature of her love for him is such that
she feels she can never get enough. This is why she says. “My love is such that rivers
cannot quench”.

Line 8
In the eighth line, she reveals her gratitude for being the recipient of her husband’s
love, by claiming that she could never “recompense” his love. This shows that she
feels so loved by her husband that she doesn’t believe she could ever make him feel
as loved as he has made her feel.

Line 10
In the ninth line, she reiterates her thought that his love is deeper than what she could
ever return by saying, “Thy love is such I can no way repay”. And since she doesn’t
believe that she herself could ever repay her husband for the love he has bestowed
on her, she prays to God that He will bless her husband in reward for the way he has
loved his wife (line 10).

Line 11
She ends To my Dear and Loving Husband by claiming that they will persevere in
love until the end. Bradstreet has no doubt that she and her husband will stay married
and in love until one passes from this life to the next. This is revealed when she says,
“Then while we live, in love let’s so persever”.

Line 12
The final line of this poem ends with a small glimpse into the next life. She says,
“That when we live no more, we may live ever”. This line suggests that their love with
be eternal. She believes that even after this life is over, they will continue to be in love
for all of eternity.

Anne Bradstreet Background

Anne Bradstreet was one of the very first women to publish any poetry or works of
literature in America. She was a Puritan, and so she believed in life after death, and
put her hope in this belief. This is shown in the last two lines of To my Dear and
Loving Husband. Bradstreet had many intellectual ideas, and loved to discuss
religion. She enjoyed nature and writing, and she became a beacon of hope for many
female writers who wished to be acknowledged for their intellect. Although
Bradstreet adhered to the male hierarchy promoted in her society at this time, one
must remember that she was a Puritan, and that under her influence and beliefs, she
did her best to promote the acknowledgement of the intellect and ability of women
everywhere. Bradstreet did not fight the system, as many later women would, but this
is perhaps because in her personal experience, she had a loving father, and a loving
and gentle husband, and so she promoted women within the context of male
hierarchy. She did not, apparently, personally feel the oppression many women must
have felt at her time. This poem particularly reveals that, as Anne seems to have been
in a loving and genuine marriage in which her husband did not oppress her, but loved
and esteemed her.