Anne Bradstreet's 'Upon The Burning Of Our House'

The lives of the Puritans were greatly influenced by their belief in God. In their eyes, God had incomparable power that He used to help them live. The Puritans strongly thought that the Lord had the power to both provide for them and take from them. In the eyes of the Puritans, God accommodated them in times of struggle and contributed to their wellbeing through materialistic possessions. According to William Bradford in Of Plymouth Plantation, God was the reason they safely arrived at Plymouth Rock. He bestowed upon then an iron screw when the main beam on the Mayflower cracked. While the crew members were uncertain about the ability of the ship to continue the voyage, the Puritans turned to their beloved God and He helped them. An iron screw was fortunately found on the ship, which the Puritans considered a gift from God. This gift aided them in their journey across the ocean. Without the screw, it was unlikely that they would have successfully landed at their destination because

In Upon the Burning of Our House, Anne Bradstreet described the loss of her home due to a tragic fire. While she was sad at the loss, she understood that it was not hers to begin with: “I blest His name that gave and took, / That laid my goods now in the dust. / Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just. / It was His own, it was not mine.” She acknowledged that the house did not belong to her but that it belonged to God, so he had the power and authority to take it away from her. She also understood that God had taken away her house by His goodwill to help her realize that it was not hers. In fact, one could say she viewed it as a gift that allowed her to realize that her real home lied in Heaven. Although He could present them with possessions, the Puritans understood that God could also take them away. The Puritans believed that God aided them when they first settled in Plymouth