Name: ___________________________
“Upon the Burning of Our House”
1. At first, how does the speaker feel about the loss of her house in the fire?
2. What different emotions does the speaker express? Point out specific lines to support
your answer.
3. How did the speaker view her possessions before the fire, and how did she later
change her views?
4. What is the author describing with the extended metaphor in lines 43-50?
5. In you opinion, what does the last sentence of the poem mean?
6. Identify a line that contains inversion.
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”
7. What does the speaker prize “more than whole mines of gold”?
8. In line 7, what is the author suggesting that her love is like?
9. What does the speaker say would compensate her for loving her husband, and how
does she hope he will be rewarded for his love?
10. What is the seeming contradiction in the last line? What do you think this contradiction
means?
11. What is the rhyming pattern of both poems?