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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet
Feature Menu
Introducing the Poem Literary Focus
Metaphor Literary Focus Literary
Perspectives Reading Focus Analyzing Text
Structures Inversion Writing Focus Think as a
Reader/Writer
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet
The Granger Collection, New York
How can peoples beliefs affect their actions?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Introducing the Poem
Click on the title to start the video.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Introducing the Poem
In this poem, the speaker awakens to shouts of
Fire!

• She escapes from her burning house and then
  watches the flames consume it.

• The shock of losing her house causes her to
  reflect on what truly matters to her.

End of Section
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares
two unlike things without using like or as.
What is being compared in each of these sentences?
Our opponents defense was an impenetrable wall.
The hawk, a bolt of lightning, caught its prey.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus Metaphor
The Puritans preferred a plain style of writing
that rarely included figurative language.
The Puritans plain style stressed

• simplicity

• clarity of expression

• the use of everyday words

A common and important device used in Puritan
literature, however, is the implied metaphor.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus Metaphor
An implied metaphor is a metaphor not directly
stated in the text.
Adorning her midnight blue gown was a
constellation of jewels.
This sentence implies a comparison between jewels
and stars, as well as between the gown and the
night sky.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Historical Context
Historicism is the study of how the circumstances
of a time period influence an authors work.
Influences can be

• social

• economic

• cultural

• intellectual

• religious

• political

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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Historical Context
The context of Bradstreets poem is the
seventeenth-century Puritan colonies in North
America.
Considering Puritan beliefs about earthly and
spiritual existence, how might a Puritan react to
the sudden loss of all of his or her material
possessions?
The Granger Collection, New York
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Political Context
Analyzing literatures political contexts often
includes the study of gender.
The study of gender examines how concepts of
masculinity and femininity influence an authors
work.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Political Context
Puritan womens influence was often limited to
the domestic sphere.
How might Bradstreets identity as a Puritan
woman have influenced her reaction to the loss of
her home?
The Granger Collection, New York
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Reading Focus Analyzing
Text Structures
Inversion is the reversal of the normal word
order in a sentence or phrase.

• Poets often use inversion to accommodate the
  demands of meter and rhyme.

My pleasant things lie in ashes, And I shall
behold them no more.
Normal order
My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold
no more shall I.
Inversion
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Reading Focus Analyzing
Text Structures
Into Action Use a chart to rewrite Bradstreets
inverted lines in normal, noninverted order.
Into Action Inversion Chart
In silent night when rest I took
Line 1. Original Order
In silent night when I took rest
Normal Order
For sorrow near I did not look
Line 2. Original Order
Normal Order
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Writing Focus Think as a
Reader/Writer
Find It in Your Reading
Implied metaphors are more difficult to identify
than directly stated metaphors.
Although most of Bradstreets images and words
are literal, some are metaphorical.
Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by
that mighty Architect, . . .
As you read, look for images and terms that could
metaphorically represent other things or ideas.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Writing Focus Think as a
Reader/Writer
To understand an implied metaphor, first change
inverted word order to normal order and update
the vocabulary.
In heaven you have an intact house Built by
that mighty Architect.
Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by
that mighty Architect, . . .
Then, ask yourself what is being compared. In
this case, who or what is the mighty Architect?
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Vocabulary
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
piteous adj. deserving pity or compassion.
consume v. burn away destroy.
vanity n. something valueless.
glory n. great beauty splendor.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
The word piteous means deserving pity or
compassion.
After observing the piteous living conditions of
our citys homeless men, women, and children, the
city council vowed to take action.
What emotions are likely to have inspired the
council to take action?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
A
B
C
Which of these animals might emit a piteous cry?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
The word consume means to burn away or destroy.
The raging fire continues to consume acres of
woodland dried by recent drought.
Is this fire leaving many trees standing intact?
How do you know?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
Although the flood waters washed away Blancas
possessions and destroyed her home, it could not
consume her spirit.
Which of these words best describes Blanca?
a. determined
b. pleased
c. depressed
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
The word vanity means something valueless.
The time and attention you devote to
socializing on the computer is vanity, scolded
Joses mother.
Does Joses mother approve of his pastime?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
After serving in the Peace Corps, Jenna realized
the vanity of focusing on material goods.
Which of these activities might appeal to Jenna?
a. a shopping spree
b. volunteering at the local childrens shelter
c. buying a second car
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
The word glory means great beauty or splendor.
Tourists flock to the Appalachian Mountains for
the scenic glory of the fall foliage.
What adjectivesdescriptive wordsmight the
tourists use when they describe what they see?
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
The hikers were mesmerized by the glory of the
blazing sunset.
Which of these words might best describe the
sunset?
a. boring
b. beautiful
c. frightening
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The End
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QuickWrite
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 QuickWrite
What events inspire people to write poetry? Think
of an event in your life that moved you strongly
and affected your beliefs about the world. What
happened? How did you feel?
Write a few sentences describing your experience.
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Meet the Writer
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Meet the Writer
Born into a Puritan family in England in 1612,
Anne Bradstreet married when she was about
sixteen. She and her husband immigrated to New
England, where she raised eight children and
found time to write poetry. In 1650, her
brother-in-law published her poems in England
without consulting her. The books surprising
success encouraged her to keep writing.
More about the writer
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Build Background
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Build Background
Although the Puritans were industrious and often
acquired worldly goods, they considered it sinful
to place too much pride on personal possessions.
Bradstreet focuses on such pride in her poem.
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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our
House, July 10, 1666 Build Background
Rather than narrating a straightforward account
of the burning of her house, Bradstreet records
her spiritual journey from grief to solace and
the realization that her love of material things
has been in danger of eclipsing her love of
things divine.
End of Section