Name: JUSTIN LEE CLOUD CRUZ Date: Aug.

4, ‘23

Asynchronous work

“To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet

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.

5        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 (1) but love from thee, give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,

10       The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere, (2)

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Write your response to the questions in this section. Be ready to discuss it on the next class.

1. The writer in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” describes her love for her husband in three
ways in the first stanza. List the ways in the graphic organizer below and then state the
message she conveys in this stanza.
the first way she describes their love is that they were both together to support each other, in the
second way she expresses that she loved him too much in the third way she expresses that her wife
made her happy. the message indicates that she loved him and felt great appreciation for him.

2. How does the speaker communicate the depth of her love for her husband in lines 5 and 6 of
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”? What descriptions does she use?
She clearly and concisely expresses the way in which she loves her husband and what she refers to
when she says that line is to express the great affection I feel when I am with him and the moments
they had together.

3. What does the poet ask in the first line of stanza 3 in the poem “To My Dear and Loving
Husband,” and whom is she addressing?

She asks if he finds the place where he is happy at this time. This is addressed to the person that his
wife loves that she expresses with such fervor

4. What is the message the poet gives in lines 9 and 10 of the poem “To My Dear and Loving
Husband”?

This refers to the way in which he lost him and what he felt when he lost his love, more precisely, it also
expresses that as long as they both live they express their love with passion.

5. How would you paraphrase the final lines of the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband”?

ours is strong while we live but when we die our love will be eternal

6. The poet in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” wants the heavens to repay her husband for
his love for her because “Thy love is such I can no way repay.” Do you agree with the wife that
her love for him is less than his love for her? Answer the question, and give evidence from the
poem to support your answer.
Well, the way in which the poem portrays her love, so her husband can be seen how she loves
him and also lets her see her husband love her with the same intensity, so I would say that the
love of love has a very strong faith.
7. The Puritans believed that God had a major role in their lives. In the poem “To My Dear and
Loving Husband,” the references to God are subtle. Identify the parts of the poem that refer
to God, and tell how they do so.
So as long as we live, in love let's persevere so long. Pray to God that if
love is lasting. The heavens reward you amply. may the heavens recognize her,
think for her love

8. Read the last two lines of the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” Notice the apparent
contradiction in the final line. Explain what the poet meant by this seeming contradiction.

I am more referring to the fact that when they die they will be able to express their love in the
afterlife in an eternal way and they will be able to live forever

Thinking About the Essential Question: What makes American literature American?

9. Why does the speaker say, “Compare with me ye women if you can”?
 who compares her with another woman who has loved her husband in the same way that she did
with hers

10. In the second stanza, what idea do the comparisons to treasure make clear?

that the love that she feels towards her husband has no comparison with something of money
and value.

11. We often think of Puritan writing as being very plain. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband,”
however, Bradstreet often uses exaggeration to express her ideas. Identify two examples of
exaggeration in the poem. Then tell whether you think the exaggeration helps or hurts the
poem, and why.

that his love is bigger than a golden measure and also that heaven rewards him. above if it
helps to highlight the content of the poem.

12. Thinking About the Essential Question: What makes American literature American?

Faith, work, and duty were important ideas to the Puritans. Think about “To My Dear and Loving
Husband.” What other important idea do you see there? Explain what it is and what Bradstreet says
about its importance to her as a wife and as a Puritan.

She expresses the value that she gave her husband and as a puritan she expresses her vision and her
way of seeing the pain she felt when she lost her husband.

13. The speaker of “To My Dear and Loving Husband” addresses_______her husband______.

14. The central idea of Anne Bradstreet’s poem is that ______she expresses her love to her
husband.
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.