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Comment 5 of 5, added on April 25th, 2010 at 12:22 AM.
Woman of faith
I would also have to disagree with Seth. Sorry.
8 I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,
9 If so much excellence abide below,
10 How excellent is he that dwells on high?
11 Whose power and beauty by his works we know.
12 Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light,
13 That hath this under world so richly dight.
Hello??!! She has faith in God and a healthy curiosity of what Heaven may
be like. Read the poem again buddy ;)
Amber Berner from United States
Comment 4 of 5, added on February 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 PM.
Puritan
I have to disagree with Seth almost completely. Anne Bradstreet was raised
as a strict Puritan by her father Thomas Dudley and idolized him as a
mentor and role model. Her contemplation is not of God's existence in the
world it is questioning the humans faith and how we are so easy to move
past it though God has not shown his face. She describes nature and asks
people to look around them, how can they not see God in all these winters
past? This is the whole belief of her faith, that Christ will come again,
that God made and created our earth. She might be a feminist in theory and
believe that woman are capable of things that men are, but she is also
humble in her opinions. If her poetry was about questioning if God existed
it wouldn't have even been published in the time period she wrote and would
have been burned, we probably would never have seen the light of day of
this poem if that was the message. So you are reading the words but not
through the lens of the right glasses, she was a woman born and raised
devoted to her God.
Nicole M. from United States
Comment 3 of 5, added on February 6th, 2008 at 2:05 AM.
"And though thus short, we shorten many ways, Living so little while we are
alive." I would agree with Lydia that this can be interpreted by reflecting
how people waste their short lives on little things...but i would have to
disagree with her last comment based on the poems title. "Contemplations"
means people who consider things thoroughly, and based on the poems
previous contemplation of Gods existence, such as in stanza 3:
15 Then on a stately Oak I cast mine Eye,
16 Whose ruffling top the Clouds seem'd to aspire.
17 How long since thou wast in thine Infancy?
18 Thy strength and stature, more thy years admire,
19 Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born?
20 Or thousand since thou brakest thy shell of horn?
21 If so, all these as nought, Eternity doth scorn.
would suggest that to obey God would be living so little of your life
This stanza suggests that the narrators contemplates the existence of
Godand that his none reappearance to the world, hundred and thousands of
"winters past" prove that people are bound to contemplate and disprove his
existence "Eternity doth scorn." Thus people should not, as Lydia said,
"stand up and obey God in the way [God's] leading us" because he is not
leading anyone anymore, his teachings are much apart of the past, and the
following three lines (117-119) of the seventeenth stanza proves the
intentions of the narrators contemplation,
117 In eating, drinking, sleeping, vain delight
118 So unawares comes on perpetual night
119 And puts all pleasures vain unto eternal flight.
People are "living so little while [they] are alive; In eating, drinking,
sleeping, vain delight." They are living so little of their necesseties and
wants in life. They are "so unaware" of doing this, night after night
("perpetual night" ) and are arrogantly put their time into God - "eternal
flight" suggests the immortality one achieves when they go to Heaven
(continued life after death) from obeying God - because their is no God, so
obeying God (in this case the Christianity, Jesus Christ) is something
people do so much in life, thereby leaving less time to actually live it.
Seth T C. from United States
Comment 2 of 5, added on February 6th, 2008 at 2:05 AM.
"And though thus short, we shorten many ways, Living so little while we are
alive." I would agree with Lydia that this can be interpreted by reflecting
how people waste their short lives on little things...but i would have to
disagree with her last comment based on the poems title. "Contemplations"
means people who consider things thoroughly, and based on the poems
previous contemplation of Gods existence, such as in stanza 3:
15 Then on a stately Oak I cast mine Eye,
16 Whose ruffling top the Clouds seem'd to aspire.
17 How long since thou wast in thine Infancy?
18 Thy strength and stature, more thy years admire,
19 Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born?
20 Or thousand since thou brakest thy shell of horn?
21 If so, all these as nought, Eternity doth scorn.
would suggest that to obey God would be living so little of your life
This stanza suggests that the narrators contemplates the existence of
Godand that his none reappearance to the world, hundred and thousands of
"winters past" prove that people are bound to contemplate and disprove his
existence "Eternity doth scorn." Thus people should not, as Lydia said,
"stand up and obey God in the way [God's] leading us" because he is not
leading anyone anymore, his teachings are much apart of the past, and the
following three lines (117-119) of the seventeenth stanza proves the
intentions of the narrators contemplation,
117 In eating, drinking, sleeping, vain delight
118 So unawares comes on perpetual night
119 And puts all pleasures vain unto eternal flight.
People are "living so little while [they] are alive; In eating, drinking,
sleeping, vain delight." They are living so little of their necesseties and
wants in life. They are "so unaware" of doing this, night after night
("perpetual night" ) and are arrogantly put their time into God - "eternal
flight" suggests the immortality one achieves when they go to Heaven
(continued life after death) from obeying God - because their is no God, so
obeying God (in this case the Christianity, Jesus Christ) is something
people do so much in life, thereby leaving less time to actually live it.
Seth T C. from United States
Comment 1 of 5, added on February 6th, 2006 at 8:31 AM.
This is an awesome poem, I especially love the lines "And though thus
short, we shorten many ways, Living so little while we are alive." this
really describes the way we waste our lives with empty things; not
realizing that our days are short and fleeting.
A great incentive to stand up and obey God in the way He's leading us, we
only have one life to live!!
Lydia from United States
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I would also have to disagree with Seth. Sorry.
8 I wist not what to wish, yet sure thought I,
9 If so much excellence abide below,
10 How excellent is he that dwells on high?
11 Whose power and beauty by his works we know.
12 Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light,
13 That hath this under world so richly dight.
Hello??!! She has faith in God and a healthy curiosity of what Heaven may
be like. Read the poem again buddy ;)
Amber Berner from United States