Upon The Burning Of Our House Analysis

The Puritans were an extremely religious lot that came to America from England in hopes of finding religious freedom. In doing so they not only founded the colony of Massachusetts but also created some of the most memorable religious poems and sermons to this day. Two writers Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are to writers who wrote on the same subject,but they had very different approaches to addressing that matter.

Anne Bradstreet wrote a poem about God’s wrath and mercy titled “ Upon the Burning of Our House.”. In the poem her house burns down and subsequently killed her husband. She believes this is because she loved her house and husband more than she loved God. “ Didst fix thy hope on mold 'ring dust?” ( Bradstreet). Later in the poem she makes reference to God’s mercy in a quote about her eternal reward, “The world no longer let me love,My hope and treasure lie above.” ( Bradstreet). Throughout her poem Bradstreet keeps a calm and mellow tone about all

Edwards uses several grim and descriptive similes to show the restraint God shows in holding back his which could be seen as mercy if it’s thought about it in a deep enough manner. This mercy is demonstrated in lines such as, “ I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God 's mere will.” ( Edwards 110) . However God’s wrath is more prominent in the sermon in lines like, “God 's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames.” ( Edwards 111). This line clearly shows the true wrath of good in its destructive glory. As seen throughout this sermon Edwards preaches with an angry possible aggressive