Introduction

What did the literature produced in the Puritan era consist of, and what names can be
drawn from it? Well, in the first place, the poetry considered as Puritan finds its poetic
justification in the figure of God, in the task of producing a series of writings dedicated
exclusively to the creation and justification of the cosmovision of the so-called "New
World", that promised land where echoes of the Reformation carried out by Luther in
Europe sound, a fertile, wild land, where nature still seems to dominate and coexist
closely with man. It is there, where we find the explanation for the creation of this type
of literature, in the possibility of creating a new society from scratch, under the
influence of the reformist dogma. Secondly, we could speak of several names, but the
one that resonates the most and that exerts a hypnotizing attraction on the reader is that
of Anne Badstreet, an English poet who was born in Northhampton in 1612 and later
traveled to the newly discovered territory that we now know as the United States. Her
poetry explores different ideas and themes, but especially the poet emphasizes religious
devotion and the domestic aspect of that specific time. Her poems express a certain kind
of delicacy and brilliant emotion, as well as expressing a need to search for awareness,
moreover her poetry on an aesthetic level is not a product of lived faith, but faith itself
lived in its highest essence. (Early American Soap Opera by Caitlin Kimball, s. f.)
It is tempting to say that Anne Badstreet was a poet ahead of her time, even if we go
further, we can find in her poetry certain features that later culminated in what was
called Romanticism. That is why, in this essay we will try to make evident the
relationship between her poetry and the romantic movement, taking as a reference her
poem Weary Pilgrim comparing it with a painting by the romantic painter Henry
Dawson, the painting in question is: Pilgrims in Sight of the celestial City.
Therefore, by way of introduction, before entering into the comparison of text and
image, it will be necessary to comment on the most significant aspects of the two works,
in order to subsequently make evident the close relationship between the poem and the
painting, taking as a reference point the possible romantic character of the two works,
the intention of this essay is therefore to establish a point of union between the Puritan
poetry of Anne Badstreet and the formal and iconographic elements of English
Romantic painting.
Pilgrims in Sight of the celestial City (1854)

On the one hand, the poem As Weary Pilgrim narrates the moment in which a supposed
pilgrim reaches the end of his journey, the heavenly ecstasy, at the gates of Paradise, in
this case, the protagonist of the poem after a long, arduous, and tedious journey where
he has had to face the adversities that God has placed in his path -because it must be
remembered that in the Puritan worldview, it is God who, through Providence, imposes
and guides the path to follow to reach salvation- manages to ascend to heaven,
ultimately culminating in the final destiny for all those devotees who dedicate their lives
to the worship and love of God. From the formal point of view, the poem is composed
by iambicpentameters, and its rhyme scheme is: AABB. In the first part of the poem it
is the author herself who narrates the adversities of the pilgrim, but later the poet moves
to the foreground, to finally identify herself with the figure of the pilgrim who achieves
the highest will of the believer, that of ascending to heaven by unifying his body and
soul, that is, breaking the duality body/soul: "Then soul and body they shall unite".(Bradstreet
et al., 2010) The poem itself gives off a sense of immensity and grandeur, which are
conveyed through the very figure of the pilgrim and his adversities, at first the poem
becomes an enumeration of the different feats that the protagonist has gone through,
giving the poem an epic aura. Among his exploits, the following stand out:
- “The briars and thornes no more shall scratch
Nor hungry wolves at him shall catch” (Bradstreet et al., 2010)

On the other hand, the painting Pilgrims in Sight of the celestial City, presents us with a
scene that as the title of the painting itself indicates is "celestial", this adjective is
materialized in the use of color that the painter uses, in addition to presenting a scene
where religious iconography stands out through the figure of what appears to be a large
dome with a cross erected from it, although this seems to be blurred through the light
and illuminated tones that Dawson applies. The whole painting seems to indicate that
the atmosphere that Dawson wants to create is that of a glowy auras, in itself, the
painting gives off a grandeur that is related to the Christian imaginary, specifically with
the figure of the pilgrim, who represents the figure of the fervent devotee who is guided
by God through Providence to heaven, that is, until his death. Note also that the
predominant colors in the painting are dark tones, among which green, black and brown
stand out, and illuminated tones, among which we find white, blue and yellow. If we
continue analyzing the painting, we will see that in the foreground we are in front of
two images, one dominated by dark tones where a group of pilgrims can be seen
following a path that will lead them to Paradise. It is important to highlight how
Dawson attributes the dark tones to the areas and figures of the painting that refer to the
earthly world, that is, if we look, the use of greens, browns and blacks are exclusively
reserved for the representation of natural elements: the mountains, the foliage, etc. All
this could be summarized as romantic elements, that is, on the one hand we find the
material world, in this case, nature, who is represented as an unstoppable and even dark
force, in this case, this may want to represent everything that happened before the
moment in which the pilgrims reach ecstasy, Dawson represents the natural without
sparing its forces, showing us all its intimidating power. On the other hand, in the
central part of the painting, the vanishing point, that is, the place where all the lines of
the painting meet, is in the dome and specifically at the gates of the supposed city. It is
here where Dawson applies light tones and attributes to them a celestial sensation,
which is reinforced through the use of light, which begins to be visible in the path that
leads into the city, and which finally culminates in the figure of the cross and in the sky.

Body

Here is where we will begin a brief comparison between the two supports: textual and
pictorial. From this comparison, we will make visible the different similarities between
the poem and the painting. First of all, the titles of the works are closely related, both
semantically and abstractly. In the poem it is the noun pilgrim that calls our attention
and anticipates in a way the theme of the poem, on the other hand in Dawson's painting
this noun also acquires great importance, but the crucial element at the semantic level of
the title is the adverb "in sight" that refers to the notion of a vision. That is why we can
affirm that the title chosen by Dawson gathers all the elements that refer us to the
Christian imaginary: pilgrim and in sight. The union of these elements expresses a
power that is related to the mystical experience, which Dawson himself materializes in
his landscape.
Continuing with the analysis, we can establish a relationship of narrativity, that is, both
the poem and the painting establish a certain narrative, which ultimately seem to
coincide. First, Anne Badstreet shows the state in which the pilgrim finds himself:

- “Blesses himself to think upon

His dangers past, and travails done
The burning sun no more shall beat” (Bradstreet et al., 2010)
At the same time, Dawson presents us with a series of human figures that are in the
process of entering the path that will lead them to their final destination, pointing out
the fact that the pilgrims that Dawson represents seem to be entering the undergrowth,
they are willing to enter Mother Nature in order to achieve their goal.
Continuing with our analysis, we must point out a difference between the image and the
text, while Dawson is limited only as a good romantic landscape painter to portray a
scene, Badstreet in verse 19 introduces us to herself as a character, so that while in the
painting the only human figure is that of the pilgrims who appear entering the road:
- “A pilgrim I, on earth perplexed
With sins, with cares and sorrows vext,
By age and pains brought to decay” (Bradstreet et al., 2010)

This dichotomy is interesting, since the human in the poem is what predominates, being
the poet the one who identifies with the pilgrim, and addresses us in the first person,
giving humanity to the scene. Dawson seems not to want to focus on the figure of the
human, but is dedicated to the representation of a grandiose and celestial scenario,
where divine and natural forces are dominant, and where man is finally a small stain
made of brushstrokes that is available to the earthly, but above all, of the divine.
In keeping with the poem, Anne Badstreet mentions below a scene that anticipates the
pilgrim's destiny, it is here where it seems that Christ prepares the room for the pilgrim
to rest, where the flesh will be something that will end up being consumed in the
environment. On the other hand, we do not find this scene directly represented in the
painting, but we can relate it from Dawson's intention to illuminate with light tones such
as white, the path that should guide the pilgrims represented in the pictorial support:
- “What tough my flesh shall there consume
It is bed Christ did perfume,
And when a few years shall be gone.
This mortal shall be clothed upon.” (Bradstreet et al., 2010)

On the other hand, we find again another relationship between the two supports, this
time in what would be almost the end of the poem, where the poet stages the moment in
which the pilgrim rests on the ground, and his soul ascends, while in the earthly world
remains his body, which is identified by the poet as a carcass, as a kind of disposable
wrapping that protects the soul, that is, the true essence and purity of man. This idea can
be related to the atmosphere of Dawson's painting, which begins with the scene of an
earthly world where we find the presence of the human wrapped in nature, and then
presents us with the other side of the world, the kingdom of heaven, where the souls of
the devotees live together in peace and harmony. This sense of peace and harmony in
the poem are conveyed through the process of ascension to heaven, and specifically
through the adjective glorious and the verb rise, while Dawson to exemplify the same
uses the use of illuminated tones:

- “ A corrupt carcass down it lies

A glorious body it shall rise
In weakness and dishonor sown” (Bradstreet et al., 2010)
Both Anne Badstreet and Dawson, despite belonging to different historical periods,
seem to coincide on several points. On the one hand, Badstreet's poem shows us how
the poet intends to devote devotion not so much to speech, but to the spiritual plane; it is
through speech that the poet intends to materialize all her devotion and spiritual fervor.
Mention how the Puritan conception is essentially idealistic and dualistic at the same
time, it dichotomizes both the spiritual and the physical world, seeing them as
something practically incompatible. (Alkhadra, Wafa. 2014) This we can also observe in
Dawson's painting, from the separation exerted by the wall drawn in the painting and
the contrast of dark and light tones, which finally establish the separation between the
two worlds.

Conclusion
Once the comparison between the text and the painting is made, the relationship of
synergy between these two supports becomes more evident, especially if we take as a
starting point the religious and mystical character that the two works exude. On the one
hand, both seem to be enveloped in an aura of grandeur that is even sublime, but if the
reader/viewer goes further, he/she will also find formal and non-thematic features, such
as the use of a sophisticated style of diction and rhythm in the case of the poem, and of a
loose brushstroke, even subtle but at the same time also sophisticated. The two pieces
manage to evoke a sort of allegory that finds its reason in the fact of wanting to show or
exemplify the final destiny of the devotee. Returning to our starting point, which
consists in the identification of romantic traits in the two works, we can affirm that these
permeate Badstreet's poem through the sensations and visions that the poet expresses,
but above all the romantic spirit of the poet resides in the possibility of allowing herself
the freedom to express her feelings (romanticism), but at the same time reaffirming
what is expected of the poet to say in discursive/devotional terms (puritanism). (Alkhadra,
Wafa. 2014) Harold Bloom comments on Anne Badstreet that: "She is a romantic "precursor"
tough "remote", she certainly is in many aways from them, in distance time and temperament" (Bloom,
1986) It is here where the tension between the spiritual and earthly world, or ultimately
between the romantic world and the puritan world, becomes visible in the ability to
explore a certain marginal freedom, which ultimately serves as a reinsertion of one's
faith. Continuing with this idea of tension between these two movements or
worldviews, we can shed even more light on the idea of identifying Christ as a
Romantic. By this we mean the identification of his figure as the one who came into the
world ready to preach the word addressed to good souls in order to free men from
spiritual slavery and thus show them a new spiritual and earthly existence based on
knowledge, beauty and love. Finally, it is necessary to comment that despite being two
artists far apart in terms of time, customs and artistic movements, it is possible to
establish certain similarities both at a narrative and thematic level, since Anne Badstreet
and Henry Dawson ultimately speak and show something very similar, that is, the
tension existing between two opposing worlds, which in turn convey a sublime and
grandiose allegory about the pilgrim's path and his final destination, that is, the ascent to
heaven.
Bibliography:
-Alkhadra, Wafa. (2014). Anne Bradstreet’s Romantic Precedence.
- Bloom, H. (1986). American Women Poets (Critical Cosmos) (1.a ed.). Chelsea House

Pub.

- Early American Soap Opera by Caitlin Kimball. (s. f.). Early American Soap Opera by

Caitlin Kimball. Poetry Foundation.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/68602/early-american-soap-opera

- Bradstreet, A., Hensley, J. & Rich, A. (2010). The Works of Anne Bradstreet: 121.

Belknap Press.