Anne Bradstreet's "Contemplations": Patterns of Form and Meaning
Author(s): Alvin H. Rosenfeld
Source: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Mar., 1970), pp. 79-96
Published by: The New England Quarterly, Inc.
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S
"CONTEMPLATIONS":
PATTERNS OF FORM AND MEANING
ALVIN
H.
ROSENFELD
I
ALTHOUGHAnne Bradstreetwasand mustalwaysbe considereda minorpoet,shewill continueto be readand discussedto a greaterdegreethanotherwritersof her rank.She
was,afterall, America'sfirstpublishedpoet, and by rightof
that distinctionalone she will not be forgotten.There are
largerand more compellingreasons,however,that bringus
backto her.She livedand wrotein thefirstyearsof thefounding of the Americancolonies,in a place and a time thatare
in thepopularimagination,and we anticipatein
near-mythic
somesense
herwritings,
and perhapsevenunfairly,
stubbornly
of thatage and someearlytracesof the developingmyth.We
and chiefmodelswereEnglish
knowthatherliteraryfavorites
and French,yetshe standsat thebeginningofAmericanliterature,and we searchher writingsforsignsof an awakening
Americancharacter.In additionthereis theprimaryfactthat
forthat
shewas a womanpoet,and we look to heraccordingly
feminine
the
that
of
view
to
sensibility
belongs
special point
and which,we hope,will providecertaindetailsoflifein early
Americamissingin thewritingsofherPuritanbrothers.They
cametoa strangelandwheretheyweremetbya newgeography
and we mustwonderwhat
and a totallynewsetofexperiences,
new
and
what
had
them
on
means,ifany,
literary
impactthese
werefoundto recordand expressthem.Can Anne Bradstreet,
our first
poet,tellus?Does shetellus?Whetheror notshedoes
is stilldebated,but as longas theseand otherrelatedquestions
remain,she will be read and discussed,a minorpoet but an
one all thesame.
especiallyinteresting
a
how
secure
place Anne Bradstreetnow has in AmeriJust
can literatureis evidencedbythekindsof consideration
given
her poetryin the last two decades. Elizabeth White's "The
Tenth Muse-A TercentenaryAppraisalof Anne Bradstreet"
79
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80
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
marksthebeginning
ofa newappreciation
of thepoet,and
sincethepublicationof MissWhite'sessay,in 1951, other
studiesof an equallyhighorderhave appeared,including
AnneBradfirst
criticalstudy,
Piercy's
Josephine
book-length
street.
of
Therehavealsobeennotonebuttworecenteditions
AnneBradstreet's
facsimile
works:Josephine
Piercy's
reproductionofThe TenthMuseandpartsoftheAndovermanueditionofThe Worksof
Hensley's
scriptbook;andJeannine
AnneBradstreet,
whichreproduces
thesecondeditionofSeveralPoems(Boston,1678)as wellas thecontents
ofthemanuandcriticalachievescriptbook.In additiontothesescholarly
mentsthereis John Berryman's
remarkablelong poem,
ata uniqueand sympathetic
Bradstreet,
HomagetoMistress
to
the
that
re-create
inner
life
of
and
one
has
the
tempt
poet
readersto rediscover
her and
broughtmanycontemporary
evaluateherwritings
anew.The resulthas beento givenew
to theplaceofAnneBradstreet
literain American
emphasis
tureand to bringto herpoetrythekindofcarefulattention
thatmanyfeelitdeserves.'
criticalopiniontendsto favorAnneBradContemporary
street'sshorterlyricsand, withone exception,largelydisofherlongerpoems.The exception
is "Contemplaapproves
mostappealing
is
the
best
and
tions,"whichmostreaders
agree
hermostskillful
ofthelongpoemsandperhaps
andsignificant
work.Thereisa largeamountofdisagreement,
about
however,
theprecisenatureof thepoemand itsplacein Englishand
American
literature.
Those whostressthepoet'sPuritanism
1 Elizabeth Wade White, "The Tenth Muse--A Tercentenary Appraisal,"
William and Mary Quarterly,vIII, 355-377 (July, 1951); Josephine K. Piercy,
Anne Bradstreet (New Haven, Conn., 1965); Josephine K. Piercy,editor, The
Tenth Muse (i65o), and, From the Manuscripts,Meditations Divine and Morall
Together with Letters and Occasional Pieces by Anne Bradstreet (Gainesville,
Fla., 1965); Jeannine Hensley, editor, The Works of Anne Bradstreet (Cambridge,Mass., 1967); JohnBerryman,Homage to MistressBradstreet(New York,
1956).
See also, Ann Stanford, "Anne Bradstreet: Dogmatist and Rebel," NEW
ENGLAND QUARTERLY,XXXIX,
373-389 (Sept., 1966); Ann Stanford,"Anne Bradstreet as a Meditative Writer," California English Journal, II, 23-31 (1966);
Adrienne Rich, "Anne Bradstreetand Her Poetry,"Foreword to The Worksof
Anne Bradstreet(1967).
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S
"CONTEMPLATIONS"
81
tend to view "Contemplations"withinthe large body of religious poetryof the seventeenth
centuryand findit particuclose
to
of
the poetry religiousmeditation.Othersfeel
larly
thatthe poem is not traditionalin thissense at all, but that
insteadit pointsforwardto a new age and anotherkind of
sensibility,
namelyEnglishRomanticism.
Thus Ann Stanfordand JosephinePiercy,to cite only the
twomostrecentcriticswho havewrittenon thepoem,present
contrarypointsof view in theirreadings.Miss Stanford,in a
sensitivearticle,understands"Contemplations"within the
traditionofmeditativepoetryand attempts
to revealthemeanin
of
the
of
terms
the
and
ing
meaningof the
pattern
poem
meditation.
also
draws
She
analogies to the sevenreligious
traditionof emblematicliterature.Her conteenth-century
clusion is that "Contemplations"is "not primarilya nature
poem" but one that"mightbe read as a poem in themeditativeform.... The poem mayalso be read as a seriesof short
emblematicpoems."2The authorsshe citesas relatedto Anne
BradstreetincludeBaxter,Vaughan,Wither,and Quarles.
Miss Piercy,on the otherhand, understands"Contemplations" as a work that derivesfromand expressesthe poet's
stressesthose
"genuinedelightin nature,"and sheaccordingly
the
of
that
seem
her
to
Romantic.
She
essentially
aspects
poem
also citesa numberofEnglishand AmericanRomanticwriters
whomAnne Bradstreetseemsto have anticipated:
If thechronology
had beenreversed,
criticsmighthavewritten
studieson theinfluence
oftheRomanticpoetson AnneBradstreet!
Did theyreadher?Certainly
in "Contemplations"
oneisconstantly
remindedofsomeevanescent
or phraseof theRomantithought
cists: Mightnot Emersonhave said, the "Universe'sEye"; or
Wordsworth,
"Livingso littlewhilewe are alive";or Shelley,"If
wintercome. .. a Springreturns";
or Coleridge,"Wheregliding
streams
theRocksdid overwhelm;
A lonelyplace,withpleasures
or a half-dozen
othersympathetic
overtones?
These
dignified,"
ones
could
read
have
great
manypeopledid,-but
her-apparently
2 Ann Stanford,"Anne Bradstreetas a Meditative
Writer," California English Journal,11,29, 31 (1966).
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82
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
theevidenceisnotsufficiently
conclusions.
obviousforpositive
The
felt
is
that
Anne
Puritan
and
Bradstreet,
thing
important
poet,
wroteas theydid aboutnatureand aboutthemselves.
LikeCotton
Matherin hisChristian
notonlythe
sheanticipated
Philosopher,
buttheTranscendentalists
and theirfeelingofGod
Romanticists
in nature.3
Cecil Eby,Jr.and RichardCrowderhas each studied"Contemplations"closelyand discoveredlikenessesin the poem to
passagesin the poetryof Grayand Keats; both authorsobviouslylend supportto Miss Piercy'spointof view. Samuel E.
Morison,though,is of the opinion that"the poetryof Anne
Bradstreetis withouta traceof romanticism";and Richard
Beale Davis has remarkedmorerecentlythatit is naive to assumesuchan anticipationoftheRomanticpoetsas MissPiercy
to
makes,and that"one does nothave to jump to Wordsworth
geta parallel."4
It is clear,then,thatalthoughmostreadersof Anne Bradstreet'spoetryagreewithMoses Coit Tyler's earlyjudgment
that"Contemplations"is "the verybest of her poems,"they
have been unable to agreeon what the poem preciselyis. In
addition,withtheexceptionsofMissStanfordand MissPiercy,
no one has seriouslyattemptedan analysisof thewhole poem
to revealjustwhatit is likeand whereitsreal meritslie. "Contemplations"is a long and complexlystructured
poem,and it
mustbe studiedcloselyif itsmeaningis to be at all apparent
to thereader.
II
On firstreading,the thirty-three
stanzasof "Contemplations" seem to be held togetherveryloosely,if at all, but a
closerreadingbeginsto revealcertainpatternsof imageryand
ideas withinthepoem.The seasonalmetaphoris one of these
3 JosephineK. Piercy,Anne Bradstreet(1965), 1oo, o101.
4 Cecil Eby, Jr.,"Anne Bradstreetand Thomas Gray: A Note on Influence,"
Essex Institute Historical Collections,xcvii, 292-293 (1961); Richard Crowder,
"Anne Bradstreetand Keats," Notes and Queries, n.s., mii,
386-388 (Sept., 1956);
Samuel E. Morison,Builders of the Bay Colony (Cambridge, Mass., 1958), 333;
Richard Beale Davis, American Literary Scholarship/x965 (Durham, N. C.,
1967), 118-x19.
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S
"CONTEMPLATIONS"
83
and contributessignificantly
to both formand meaning.A
secondpattern,thedailycycleofmorningand night,withits
attendantperiodsof lightand dark,obviouslyties in closely
withtheyearlycycleoftheseasons.The progression
ofnatural
tree
to
from
to
sun
riverto
the
vision
images-directing poet's
birdto stone-is a thirdand needsto be examinedcarefully.
A
fourthelement of structuraland thematicimportanceinvolvesthe elaborateswitchesin narrativeand dramatictime.
A fifth
concernsthenoticeablecontrasts
betweenClassicaland
Biblical allusions.A sixthhas to do withtone and mood and
thevarieduses of the lyricaland elegiacmodestogetherwith
the largerformof the narrative.All of thesefactorshelp to
makethepoemtherichand complexworkthatit is. They also
lend the poem unity,althoughit is a unitythatis not easily
apparentand onlybecomesso when one isolatessome of the
patternsof formand meaningand examines them,at first,
somewhatapart.
Anne Bradstreet'suse of the seasonal metaphor-which
movesthepoemfromautumnthroughwinterto a temporarily
realizedseasonof eternalspringand summer-isan anticipation of the EnglishRomanticpoets and inevitablyprovokes
and Coleridge,Shelleyand Keats.
parallelswithWordsworth
As withthosepoets,herseasonsare bothphysicaland spiritual
and participatein thesamecycleof thewaningand revivalof
life.As morethanone critichas alreadypointedout,severalof
herlineson theseasonsresemblesomeofthemostmemorable
linesin thepoemsofShelleyand Keats,a factorthatmaypermitus to read herpoetryin thelightofwhatwe have learned
fromtheirs.
Particularly
appropriate-andhelpful-inthisconnectionis
theplace of thepoet as thecentralfigurein thedramaof seasonal change.For it is thethreatto thepoet in his vocationas
poet and not just as mortalman thatis alwayscrucial in the
Romantic's evocation of the seasons. That is true for the
ofthe"Ode: IntimationsofImmortality,"
Wordsworth
forthe
of
An
for
the
of
"Ode
to
Ode,"
Coleridge "Dejection:
Shelley
the WestWind," forthe Keats of the greatodes-and forthe
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84
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
Anne Bradstreetof "Contemplations." A significantpart of her
poem's theme (and one findsit also in the poems just cited) has
to do with the challenge to the imagination of the poet's heavy
and constantsense of time, flux,and a final oblivion. A major
portion of this theme in "Contemplations" is carried by the
seasonal metaphor.
The poem actually begins with it-"Some time now past in
the autumnal tide" (i)-and fromthis point on it is pervasive,
appearing explicitly in at least a third of the stanzas and implicitlyin manyof the others.5The poet invokes it immediately
when, walking alone in the woods of an autumn day, she
quietly gives herselfup to the splendid scene and is moved to
remark: "More heaven than earth was here, no winter and no
night" (2). She is moved by the majesty of the trees and particularly by one "stately oak" which, with its height and
strength,seems to defyand transcend a "hundred winters ...
or [a] thousand." But the lines thatmost fullyexpress the poet's
attachment to the metaphor of the seasons appear later, in
stanzas 18 and 28:
When I behold theheavensas in theirprime,
And thentheearth(thoughold) stillclad in green,
The stonesand trees,insensibleof time,
Nor age nor wrinkleon theirfrontare seen;
If wintercome and greennessthendo fade,
A springreturns,and theymoreyouthfulmade;
But man growsold, liesdown,remainswhereoncehe's laid.
(18)
The dawningmornwithsongsthou dost prevent,
Setshundrednotesunto thyfeatheredcrew,
So each one tuneshis prettyinstrument,
And warblingout theold, begin anew,
And thustheypass theiryouthin summerseason,
Then followtheeinto a betterregion,
Wherewinter'sneverfeltby thatsweetairylegion. (28)
5 All referencesto Anne Bradstreet'spoetry and prose are from Jeannine
Hensley,editor,The Worksof Anne Bradstreet(Cambridge,Mass., 1967); numbers in parentheses followingquotations refer to the stanzas of "Contemplations."
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S "CONTEMPLATIONS"
85
The Shelleyannoteis inescapablein thefirst
ofthesestanzas,
the Keatsian in the second.Anne Bradstreetseems to share
withthesepoetsa consciousnessof the rejuvenescenceof life,
of thechanceto recoverfromtheold to makealwaysnew beginnings,whichcomeswith the cycleof the "Quaternal seasons,"as she refersto themin an earlierstanza(6). Stanza 18
ends, however,on a pessimisticnote about man's abilityto
participatein theseasonal cycle,and at thispointwe have a
of seadeparturefromthe later Romanticpoet's affirmation
sonal deathand rebirth.Anne Bradstreetwas of anotherage,
afterall, and sheis nowherecloserto thatage thanhere,where
she qualifiesa strongpersonalimpulsetowardsRomanticbeliefs with the traditionalChristianassertionof man's mortality:
all,
Bybirthmorenoblethanthosecreatures
Yetseemsbynatureand bycustomcursed,
No soonerborn,butgriefandcaremakesfall
That stateobliterate
he had at first;
Noryouth,
norstrength,
norwisdomspringagain,
Norhabitations
their
namesretain,
long
Butin obliviontothefinaldayremain.
(19)
Theseus' famousspeech in A Midsummer-Night's
Dream
about the imaginationgivingto airynothing"a local habitationand a name" is echoedhere,and itsimplicationsare that
thepoethas suffered
notonlya reversalofhercommitment
to
theseasonalmetaphorbut of theveryqualityofher imagination.For althoughthepoem goes on to affirm
that"man was
made forendlessimmortality"
the
kind
of
(2o),
immortality
referredto and pursuedis thatof orthodoxChristianity
and
not Romanticrenewalon earth.Christianity's
idea of resurrectionafterdeathis based,in part,upon thesymbolism
ofthe
seasonalcycle,but itsfinalgoal is transcendence
ofall natural
formsto eternallife beyond.A prose passage in Anne Bradstreet's"MeditationsDivine and Moral" helps to make this
pointemphatic:
The springis a livelyemblemof theresurrection:
aftera long
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86
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
of
winter
weseetheleafless
treesanddrystocks
(at theapproach
thesun)toresume
in
a
and
more
their
former
vigor beauty
ample
manner
thanwhattheylostin theautumn;
so shallit be at that
a longvacation,
shall
whentheSunofrighteousness
greatdayafter
those
shall
arise
in
far
more
than
bones
that
dry
appear;
glory
whichthey
lostat their
andin thistranscends
thespring
creation,
thattheir
leafshallnever
failnortheir
sapdecline.6
This is a graceful
doctrine
offamiliar
Christian
description
and represents,
whatAnne Bradstreet
would
one imagines,
haveclaimedtobe herfinalreligious
on
the
questions
position
oflife,death,andimmortality.
Does it alsorepresent
herdeepestresponses
as a poet,one
The questionmustbe asked,andnotjustfor"Conwonders?
but forotherofherpoemsas well.For if one
templations"
reads
"The
Fleshand theSpirit,""Versesupon the
closely
ofOurHouse,"theelegieson Sidney,
Du Bartas,and
Burning
thepoemsto herhusband,and "Contemplations,"
Elizabeth,
it soonbecomesclearthatthecurrents
withinthepoetryitselfseemtoo oftento runcounterto a positionof religious
AnneBradstreet
Andifitisfinally
unfairtothrow
orthodoxy.
itunfairtocast
the
into
of
the
is
so
too
Romantics,
fully
camp
"Puritan"
hercompletely
as a traditionally
believing
poet.
Severalcritics
havecalledattention
to "theclashoffeeling
and dogma"in herpoetry,
to thestruggle
between"howshe
feels
of
how
she
should
instead
and thatis prefeel,"
really
we
what
are
faced
with
here.7
addscharThis
cisely
struggle
toherpoetry,
to
acterandstrength
andoneshouldnotattempt
dismissit,as is sometimes
done,byseeingit as merelyan incidentalflawin an otherwise
clearlydefined
positionofeither
The poetry
staunchPuritanism
or rebelliousRomanticism.
in eitherdirection,
itselfdoesnotfullyresolvethesetensions
afterall, but insteadgainsmuchof itsvitality
and interest
ofwhatBlakecalledthewarring
fromtheexistence
contraries.
6 The Worksof Anne Bradstreet,279.
7Ann Stanford,"Anne Bradstreet: Dogmatist and Rebel," NEW ENGLAND
386, 388 (Sept., 1966); Miss Stanford'sarticle is the fullest
QUARTERLY, XXXIX,
exposition to date on this strugglebetween impulse and dogma in Anne Bradstreet'sworks.
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S "CONTEMPLATIONS"
87
In "Contemplations"one findsthe war of the contraries
everywhere:in the earlyassertionbut laterretreatfromthe
seasonalmetaphor;in thedualitiesofmorningand night;light
and dark; thepresentearthand a futureheaven; raptspeech
and an imposedsilence.Phoebusand theGod of thePuritan's
Bible are opposedhere,as are theirrelatedvalues,whichmay
be designated,in the poem's own terms,as "this world of
pleasure" (32) as against the promisedjoys "of an eternal
morrow"(go). In the end, the will towards"divine translation" (3o) appearsto triumph,but one suspectsa largeshare
ofitsvictoryis doctrinaire,
imposedfromwithout,ratherthan
earnednaturallyfromwithin,the poem.
So much of "Contemplations"seems,in fact,to issue from
whatAnne Bradstreet
calls "thefeelingknowledge"(6) of the
forherpoetryof
worldthatone beginstodoubtthelegitimacy
someof thelessinspiredreligiousassertionsthatappearwithin it. One cannotignoretheirpresence,ofcourse,but toooften
the merelytraditionally
renderedreligiouspassagespale beforesome of the moredeeplyfeltlyricalpassagesin praiseof
Phoebus and the thingsof the earth.It is hard to be moved,
forinstance,bya tripletsuchas this:
But sad affliction
comesand makeshimsee
Here'sneither
honour,wealth,norsafety;
Onlyaboveis foundall withsecurity.(32)
whereasone ismovedbythis:
makesitday,thyabsencenight,
Thypresence
seasons
causedbythymight:
Quaternal
fullofsweetness,
anddelight. (6)
Hail creature,
beauty,
AnneBradstreet's
apostropheto thesunis worthyofShelley
and expressessome of the same eleganceof line and imaginthatone findsin Shelleyat his best.In contrast,
ativestrength
herverseson man'searthlyafflictions
and promiseof security
are
second
and
awkward.
flat
The
beyond
tripletis graceful,
the feeling,inspired;in the first,the languageis clumsy,the
and seeminglyuntrue.
sentiment,
unconvincing
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88
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
If one weighsthemeritof thesetwosetsof versesby Anne
Bradstreet's
affection
for"the feelingknowledge,"it is obvious that,no matterwhatherpositionas a prominentmember
ofthePuritanfaithcommunity,
as a poet she was morea worshipperofPhoebusthanofChrist.Her loveliestlinesin "Contemplations"are writtenin praiseof the sun god, whomshe
addressesas " a strongman" and "a bridegroom,"and who
movedher to a positionof near adoration:
Thenhigheron theglistering
SunI gazed,
Whosebeamswasshadedbytheleavietree;
The moreI looked,themoreI grewamazed,
Andsoftly
liketothee?"
said,"Whatglory's
Soulofthisworld,thisuniverse's
eye,
No wondersomemadetheea deity;
Had I notbetter
known,
alas,thesamehadI. (4)
This is poetrywrittenfroma highlevelof inspiredawe and
strongfeeling,but the concludingline tendsto deflatethese
qualities of spiritconsiderablyand representsa retreatfrom
them.This initialsurgeand subsequentreversalof voice and
visionis typicalnot onlyof thispassagebut of the poem as a
whole,and in observingitone becomesawareofa fundamental
patternin "Contemplations"that largelydefinesboth the
poem'sformand meaning.
The poet's imaginationbelongedto the earthand the sun
who reignedover it, reviving"fromdeath and dullness" (5)
not onlytheearth'sheartbut hersas well. The demandsof a
Puritanreligiousconsciousness,
however,apparentlydid not
so
free
and
exuberant
an
indulgenceoftheimagination
permit
and dictatedinsteaditsowntermsofworship.The poet is consequentlyturnedawayfromher initialsourcesof inspiration
in thenaturalworldto thoughtsofwhatinsteadsheshouldbe
praising.The resultsforthepoetryare,as expected,notgood:
MygreatCreatorI wouldmagnify,
Thatnaturehad thusdeckedliberally;
ButAh,andAh,again,myimbecility!(8)
come insteadofpraise.
Stuttering-and-ultimately-silence
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S "CONTEMPLATIONS"
89
The displacement
ofelevatedfeelingbyan overpowering
sense
of religiousdutyissuesin a collapseof the imagination.The
same poet whosesensesare earlierdescribedas "rapt" by the
"delectableview"ofan autumndayand who seesand can sing
thesun "so fullofglory"(7) is broughtto silencewhenforced
to praiseher Maker: "I, as mute,can warbleforthno higher
lays" (9).
In a letterto herchildrenaccompanying
herbook ofpoems,
Anne Bradstreetwrotethatthe aim ofher poetrywas "to declarethetruth,not to setforthmyself,
but thegloryofGod."8
There is no reasonto doubt thatthatwas herconsciousintenand programtion,but shecould no moreapplyit consistently
in
Milton.
Her
her
than
could
song is a song
matically
poetry
of praise,but she could onlysingwell whather imagination,
and not her moral consciousness,responded to faithfully.
When the latterintrudedfromwithout,the poetrycollapsed
fromwithin.When thishappensin "Contemplations"herresourcesas a lyricpoet are stunned,and, rendered"mute,"she
literallyhas no voice leftto singherhymnof glory.
Broughtto the point of silence,then,the poem can either
end herein a defeatoftheimaginationor tryto findnewdirection. It attemptsthe latter,and withstanza io a major turn
occursthatcomplicatesthepoemexceedinglyin termsofboth
formand meaning.
In its firstnine stanzasthe poem is essentiallya dramatic
lyric,but stanzasio through17 are purelynarrative.There is
also a significant
timechange,frompresentto past. The seasonal metaphoris dropped altogether,and the timesof day
whichearlierprevailed,morningand afternoon,
now become
all
to a
Phoebus
and
other
references
"perpetualnight"(17).
radiantearthdisappearand are replacedbytheBiblical stories
of Adam and Eve (1 1-12), Cain and Abel (13-15), and somber
reflectionsof "the virgin earth ... cloyed" with the draught of
too muchblood (14). Man's fallenstateand thegeneralvanity
ofall humanendeavorare describedin a mood thathas shifted
and raptlyricismto thatof a
radicallyfromone of a reflective
8
The Worksof Anne Bradstreet,24o.
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90
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
heavybroodingthatapproachesthedirge.The formerthemes
of vitality,immediacy,
buoyancy,and pleasurehave gone out
of thepoem,and insteadone has references
to sin,death,vanand
ity, despair.
The poem has obviouslyundergonean extremechangein
all respects,
a changethatone can accountforand understand
in
terms
ofwhathappensin thepoem to theimagination.
only
The poet alert and fullyalive when her imaginationis intoa stammering
silenceand thencarried
dulgedis broughtfirst
in a drifttowardsdeathwhenherimaginationis forcedto turn
awayfromthenaturalsourcesofitsinspiration.The outward
pressuresof dogmaseparateher fromher chosenbridegroom
Phoebusand thedelightsoftheearthand insteadbringherto
recallguiltilythefatesofAdam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Like
Eve, she "sighsto thinkof Paradise, I And how she lost her
bliss" (12). Like Cain, she is "brandedwithguiltand crushed
withtreblewoes" (15). She definesCain's struggleas one between "deep despair" and a "wish of life" (15), and that is
exactlyherownsituationat thispointin thepoem; and,within theframeof thelong narrativesection,it is thedeathwish
and not the"wishoflife"thatprevails.
A helpfulcontrastcan be made here with Wordsworth's
The fulltitlehas to
great"Ode: IntimationsofImmortality."
be recalled and stressed-"Ode: Intimationsof Immortality
fromRecollectionsofEarlyChildhood"-forin Wordsworth's
and an imaginativereturn
poem,too,it is an act of reflection
to thepastthatbringabouta significant
turnwithinthepoem.
In thisrespectthe ode and "Contemplations"both workthe
sameway;but,whereaswithWordsworth
the"recollection"of
childhoodbringsintimations
ofimmortality
and a senseofprofoundjoy in beingalive whichrelievehim of an earlierdullness and despondencyof spirit,the oppositeoccursin Anne
Bradstreet's
poem.
what
"Contemplations"beginsin joy and expresseslyrically
Wordsworth
called "thevisionarygleam,"but theact ofrecollection("contemplation"is thewordAnneBradstreet
uses,but
meditationwould be stillmoreappropriate)checkstheaspir-
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S "CONTEMPLATIONS"
91
ing imaginationand redirectsit to brood on intimationsof
to the life of thingsand
mortality.Insteadof a reattachment
an enrapturedcelebrationofjoy,whichare theresultantissue
in the "Intimations"ode, the reflective
turnin "Contemplations"bringson a severedetachmentand the moroseconviction thatall one does is "vain delight"(17). Wordsworth
centershis new-found
visionin a "Child of Joy,"whomhe rhapsodizesas "Nature'sPriest"and a "MightyProphet."Through
himthepoetis able to returnto a periodofearlierblessedness
and recapture,
at leastmomentarily,
thesenseofhisowndivine
But
that
was
not
tenor
the
ofa Puritanchildhood,
beginnings.
in recallingand embellishingthe Bible
and Anne Bradstreet,
storiesshe musthave learned as a younggirl,presentsa far
moregruesomeimageof thechild:
Heresitsourgrandame
inretired
place,
Andinherlap herbloodyCainnew-born;
The weepingimpoftlooksherin theface,
Bewailshisunknown
hap andfateforlorn.(12)
"Trailing cloudsof glorydo we come I FromGod, who is our
home,"singsthepoet of renewedhope and visionin the "Intimations"ode. But thepoetof"Contemplations"can onlyrecall thefallofman and themiscreantwho,"drivenfromthat
place," imposed"a penalty"on all "his backslidingrace" (11).
"Whereis it now,thegloryand thedream?"The questionis
ofcourse,and is raisedand thenansweredmagWordsworth's,
in
his
beautifulode. It is also raisedin "Contemplanificently
and
tions,"althoughthenecessityforthequestionis different
theanswersprovidedcomefromothersources.
Anne Bradstreetframesher questionand answerthisway:
"What glory'slike to thee?... fNo wondersomemade theea
that
deity."But God forbadein His veryfirstcommandment
thereshouldbe anyothergods set beforeHim, and although
Anne Bradstreet'smuse was passionatelytaken by Phoebus,
she could not bringherselflong to adore him. Her poem is
forcedto reverseitselffromits insurgent,Wordsworthian
Romanticism,
then,becauseRomanticismand Paganismobviwere
too
closelyallied. As CottonMatherwas to put it:
ously
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92
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
"Let nottheCirceancup intoxicate
you.But especially
preservethechastity
ofyoursoulfromthedangers
incur
youmay
thanharlots...
withmusesthatarenobetter
bya conversation
toexciteand foment
which,fortheirtendency
impureflames
inandcastcoalsintoyourbosom,deserve
tobe thrown
rather
tothefirethantobe laidbeforetheeye ."1
...ofAnneBradstreet's
The defeat
ofPhoebusmeantthedefeat
but thatis a price
creative
in "Contemplations,"
imagination
sheapparently
feltshehadtopay,evenatso higha costtoher
is alwaysvirgin,afterall, and alpoetry.The imagination
Ledas mightbe ravishedby the heavenly
thoughmythical
thatwasnosportfora Puritanladypoetlivingandwritswans,
in
NewEnglandoftheMathers.
the
ing
withthecoldoesnotcollapseentirely
"Contemplations"
andAnneBradstreet
though,
lapseofitsinitialRomanticism,
wasresourceful
to
seek
tocontinuethe
out
new
enough
figures
The
was
first
tree
her
poem.
image,valuedforits
important
was
as a
and longevity.
It
conceived
chiefly
strength,
majesty,
ofstasisandan intimation
ofeternity
symbol
(3). Butthetree
as
a
in
functions
the
only secondary
symbol
poem,foringazing
at
it
the
first
above
theleavesthe
upward
(4),
glimpsed
poet
as Phoebus,in turnbecame
splendidsunwhich,apotheosized
thepoem'sdominant
The
figure. severallyricalstanzasthen
oflife'spotency,
devotedtoPhoebusarea celebration
beauty,
and
but
are
these
not
the
valuesthatthepoet's
glory, light,
is allowedto indulge.Phoebusis defeated,
and
imagination
withhisremovalfromthepoem,thepoetreturns
to thetree
momentarily,
onlyto discoverthat,"I once thatloved the
therivers
did thetreesexshadywoodssowell,I Nowthought
cell" (21). The river,different
in symbolic
value altogether
fromeitherthe treeor thesun, is adoptedas the poem'snew
the poem's
figure,and withitssteadyflowand fluxrepresents
redirection:the race towardsdeath. It is, accordingly,
highly
the
by
poet:
prized
9 Mather's lines are fromhis Manductio ad Ministerium (1726), a portion of
which is reprintedin The Literatureof Early America,edited by Rex Burbank
and JackMoore (Columbus, Ohio, 1967).
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S "CONTEMPLATIONS"
93
Thou emblemtrueofwhatI countthebest,
torest,
O couldI lead myrivulets
everblest. (23)
So maywepresstothatvastmansion,
A peacefulyetdetermineddeath is the new goal, and the
river,whichis able to presson,despitehindrances,to that"beloved place," is an appropriatesymbol.It also containsthat
the
oldest of traditionalChristiansymbolsof immortality,
two
to
and
rather
stanzas
are
devoted
mediocre
fish,
(24-25)
how
all ofwhomknowinstinctively
fishes,
describingdifferent
to glide to "unknowncoasts."The passageson thefishare not
a highpointoflyricaldescription,
but theydo serveto bring
thepoet back to herfondnessforClassicalallusions,thistime
Philomel(26).
to Thetis,Neptune,and,mostimportantly,
And here,withstanza26, a new elementof earlyRomanticismenters,foralthoughWordsworthian
joy is no longerto
a
in
a
Anne
Bradstreet'spoem, Keatsian aesthetic
play part
is. It, too,is destinedforultimate
death,at least temporarily,
ofa guilt-ridden
defeatby themorbidinsistencies
conscience,
but the threestanzasdevotedto Philomel (26-28) are among
thefinestin thepoem and help torestorethelyricqualitiesof
the earlier sections.Upon hearingthe notes of the "sweettonguedPhilomel,"thepoet turnsinwardto discoverthather
auditoryimaginationis stillalive and can affordher as much
lucidityofvisionand clearnessof voice as hervisual imagination did earlier."I judged myhearingbetterthanmysight,"
(26) she says,and then,in two remarkablyKeatsian stanzas,
with the song of the
Anne Bradstreet,
rapt and transcendent
bird,showsthatsheis againaloftwithhervision:
bird,"saidI, "thatfearsno snares,
"O merry
Thatneither
toilsnorhoardsup in thybarn,
Feelsno sadthoughts
norcruciating
cares
To gainmoregoodorshunwhatmighttheeharm.
Thyclothesne'erwear,thymeatis everywhere,
Thybeda bough,thydrinkthewaterclear,
Remindsnotwhatispast,norwhat'stocomedostfear."
mornwithsongsthoudostprevent,
"The dawning
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94
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
Setshundrednotesunto thyfeatheredcrew,
So each one tuneshis prettyinstrument,
And warblingout theold, beginanew,
And thustheypass theiryouthin summerseason,
Then followtheeinto a betterregion,
Wherewinter'sneverfeltby thatsweetairylegion." (27-28)
This is elevated poetry,but "Contemplations" is finallyno
more allowed to follow the pattern of "Ode to a Nightingale"
than it was that of the "Intimations" ode, and for much the
same reasons: aesthetic dying is not a Christian's way of dying
anymore than adoration of Phoebus is a Christian's way of life
and prayer. The nightingale, which would have been the
poem's culminating symbol had "Contemplations" been written in nineteenth-centuryEngland rather than seventeenthcentury Massachusetts, is dismissed from the poem after its
brief but brilliant appearance and is succeeded by two stanzas
on man's sinfulnessthat could have been penned by Michael
Wigglesworth.Instead of the beauty of Anne Bradstreet'slyricism at its best, we get a deep "groan for that divine translation," followed by an unoriginal rendering of another old
Christian symbol of immortality,the mariner sailing home to
the "quiet port" (32). Then appears the poem's moral-made
as the tag that Colequite as explicitly and just as ineffectively
ridge added (and later regretted)to the close of his "Rime of
the Ancient Mariner"-"Fond fool, he takes this earth ev'n for
heav'n's bower.., . Only above is found all with security"(32).
This is not to be the poem's last word, though, for fortunately the concluding stanza is rathergood and provides "Contemplations" with a richer and more promising ending. The
central image in the finalstanza-the engraved white stone-is,
as has often been pointed out, based on a verse from Revelation, and appears to end the poem with a lesson on holy
dying.10No doubt thatis how Anne Bradstreetintended it,and
10oRev. ii. 17. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone, with a new name writtenon the stone which no
one knowsexcept him who receivesit."
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ANNE BRADSTREET'S
"CONTEMPLATIONS"
95
the Scriptural referenceimplies such a reading. At the same
time thisfinalstanza is replete with echoes of Shakespeare, and
consequently additional interpretations also suggest themselves:
O Time thefatalwrackof mortalthings,
That drawsoblivion'scurtainsoverkings;
Their sumptuousmonuments,
menknowthemnot,
Their nameswithouta recordare forgot,
Their parts,theirports,theirpomp's all laid in th' dust
Nor witnor gold,nor buildingsscape timesrust;
But he whosename is gravedin thewhitestone
Shall last and shinewhen all of theseare gone.
(33)
Two centuries later Shelley was to write lines similar to
these in his famoussonnet on Ozymandias. The Romantic poet
and the Puritan poet shared a common sense of mortal decay
and the futilityof monuments against the tyrannyof time.
The greatestpoet to give voice to these themes,though,saw
poetry itselfas an imperishable monument against time, and
his own magnificent achievement has proved him correct.
Shakespeare, who was one of Anne Bradstreet's favorite authors,frequentlyexerted a noticeable influence on her work,
and that is surely the case here in the final stanza of "Contemplations." It is so not only in referenceto her lines on time
and oblivion, which recall several of Shakespeare's sonnets,
but also in referenceto the formand meaning of her concluding couplet.
An exceptional formalconsiderationmust be noted first,and
thatis that only here in the thirty-three
stanzas of "Contemplations" does Anne Bradstreetend with a couplet and not a triplet. This is a highlysuggestivefactorand tends to reinforceour
suspicions that she was ending her poem with Shakespeare as
well as the Bible verymuch in mind. If indeed that is the case,
then Anne Bradstreet'simagination is engaged once again in
this poem in a battle of contraries,this time between two notions of immortality.The Christian hope fora "divine translation" to "an eternal morrow" (30) is unquestionably strong,
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96
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
but so too is the Shakespearianwill towardsfame.In a sense
Anne Bradstreetis composingherepitaphin thesefinallines,
and sheis doingso bothas a devotedChristianand a dedicated
poet.The twocomemorecloselytogetherherethanelsewhere
in thepoem,and one cannoteasilyassignthempriorities.Nor
is it necessary
to do so,but onlyto hold thembothin mind.
For while Anne Bradstreetfoundher image of the white
stonein Revelation,sheengravedit afterthemannerofShakespeare.It endsher poem on both a religiousand an aesthetic
note,each ofwhichis able to transcend"timethe fatalwrack
ofmortalthings"in a sublimeway.If we stillrememberAnne
Bradstreetand recall her wish to have her drybones arise in
glory,it is because she was finallypoet enough to live in her
verseand securethefamethatgood poetryprovides.
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