Upon the Burning of Our House
by Anne Bradstreet
LITERARY FOCUS: THE PLAIN STYLE REVIEW SKILLS
The Puritans favored “plainness” in all things: in dress, in the architecture
As you read “Upon the
and design of their churches, in their forms of worship, and in language. Burning of Our
House,” notice the way
Unlike the ornate “high style” popular in England at the time, the Puritan the following literary
plain style used simple sentences and common words from everyday speech. devices are used.
The plain style contained few or no classical allusions, Latin quotations, or RHYME
The repetition of
elaborate figures of speech. The plain style, Puritans felt, was much more vowel sounds in
effective in revealing God’s truth than the ornate style. Despite the fact that accented syllables and
all syllables following.
the style used by Puritan writers now seems hard to read, it was considered
METER
simple and direct in the 1600s. A pattern of stressed
and unstressed
Although Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House” contains syllables.
some figurative language, it is a good example of the plain style.
Make It Plain In the left column of the chart below are two descriptions
of everyday objects written in an ornate style. Rewrite each description in
plain style_as a Puritan might have.
Ornate Style Plain Style
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Shabby but beloved, my
shoes house my feet as they
carry me from place to place.
The pen spills ink-blood as it
brings words to life.
READING SKILLS: ANALYZING TEXT STRUCTURES
“Upon the Burning of Our House” is filled with inversions. In an inversion, Literary Skills
sentences are not written in normal word order. For example, Bradstreet Understand the
characteristics of
writes “I wakened was with thund’ring noise” instead of “I was wakened plain style.
with thund’ring noise.” Inversion is often used to make a poem’s rhyme Reading
Skills
scheme work out or to maintain a fixed meter. Understand the
use of inversion.
Use the Skill As you read Anne Bradstreet’s poem, underline the places
Review Skills
you find inversion. Understand
rhyme and
meter.
Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 15
Here Follow Some Verses upon the
Burning of Our House,
July 10, 1666
Anne Bradstreet
In silent night when rest I took
Circle the inversions you find For sorrow near I did not look
in lines 1-4. I wakened was with thund’ring noise
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
5 That fearful sound of “Fire!” and “Fire!”
What is the speaker doing in Let no man know is my desire.
lines 11-12?
I, starting up, the light did spy,
And to my God my heart did cry
To strengthen me in my distress
10 And not to leave me succorless.1
Then, coming out, beheld a space
The flame consume my dwelling place.
And when I could no longer look,
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
I blest His name that gave and took,2
15 That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so ’twas just.
It was His own, it was not mine,
In lines 16-17, why does the
speaker say that the fire was Far be it that I should repine;
“just?”
He might of all justly bereft
20 But yet sufficient for us left.
When by the ruins oft I past
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,
And here and there the places spy
Where oft I sat and long did lie:
1. succorless (suk√¥r · lis) adj.: without aid or assistance; helpless.
2. that gave and took: allusion to Job 1:21, “The Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
16 Part 1 Collection 1: Encounters and Foundations to 1800
25 Here stood that trunk, and there that chest,
There lay that store I counted best.
My pleasant things in ashes lie, What is the “house on high
And them behold no more shall I. erect” described in lines
43-46?
Under thy roof no guest shall sit,
30 Nor at thy table eat a bit.
No pleasant tale shall e’er be told,
Nor things recounted done of old.
No candle e’er shall shine in thee,
Nor bridegroom’s voice e’er heard shall be.
35 In silence ever shall thou lie,
In line 44, who is the
Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity. “mighty Architect”?
Then straight I ’gin my heart to chide,
And did thy wealth on earth abide?
Didst fix thy hope on mold’ring dust?
40 The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
Practice reading the boxed
That dunghill mists away may fly. passage aloud. As you read
the first time, notice the
Thou hast an house on high erect,
rhymes and strong meter.
Framed by that mighty Architect, On your next readings, try to
vary the rate of your reading
45 With glory richly furnished, to avoid sounding sing-song.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
Stands permanent though this be fled.
It’s purchased and paid for too
By Him who hath enough to do. Bradstreet’s plain style helps
A price so vast as is unknown to convey a complex message.
In your own words, what is
50 Yet by His gift is made thine own; this message?
There’s wealth enough, I need no more,
Farewell, my pelf,3 farewell my store.
The world no longer let me love,
My hope and treasure lies above.
The poem is rhymed in cou-
plets. Circle any end rhymes
that do not rhyme exactly.
(Review Skill)
3. pelf: wealth or worldly goods (sometimes used as a term of
contempt).
Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 17
Here Follow Some Verses upon the
Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666
Reading Skills and Strategies: Analyzing Text Structures “Upon the
Burning of Our House” contains many instances of inversion, in which words
appear in an unusual order. The left-hand column of the chart below lists
several examples of inversion from the poem. In the right-hand column, write
the inverted words or phrases in normal word order.
Example of Inversion from Poem Restatement of Inversion
“In silent night when rest I took” (line 1)
“I, starting up, the light did spy,” (line 7)
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
“When by the ruins oft I past” (line 21)
“My pleasant things in ashes lie,” (line 27)
“And them behold no more shall I.”
(line 28)
18 Part 1 Collection 1: Encounters and Foundations to 1800
