Anne Bradstreet: Contemplations
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) is one of the earliest poets in the history of America. She
immigrated with her family to the New World and belonged to the Puritans. Her verse was the best
that was written in America in the 17th-century. The reason she is appreciated today is that she
managed to overcome her being a woman in a Puritan society and her being the mother of eight
children. Her early poems are imitative in style and subject matter of English Renaissance poets. Her
later poems are in a more sincere and personal voice. We can call them truly American. Bradstreet
deals in some of her works with her religious experiences. In her writing, she gives an idsea about
Puritan views of salvation. The Puritans believed that suffering was God's way of preparing the heart
for accepting His grace. They also believed in the idea of selection, namely that God selects certain
people to be sent to heaven through divine Grace.
In her poem “Contemplations,” Bradstreet deals with the religious idea of the relationship
between man and nature. She draws a beautiful image of nature to reflect that all her senses were
controlled by the charming nature. She then moves to speak of God and describes him as very
beautiful because he has created a beautiful world. Thus, she moves from description to thinking and
contemplation, using beautiful words to describe God such as wisdom, glory, and light. The poet then
moves to speak about man’s position in the world and how small he is. She speaks to the sun showing
her admiration of the beauty of the bright colour of the sun. She explains that the beauty of this sun
inspires the ordinary person to look at it and thus he can discover the glory of God.
The poet uses many poetic devices to convey her ideas. She uses two rhetorical questions
highlighting the beauty of the sun. Besides, she uses a metaphor in comparing the sun to a king that
we cannot look at due to his brightness and whom we cannot reach because of high great height. This
image confirms the great difference between the sun and human beings, as it stresses the smallness of
man. She also wants to say that if the sun is that beautiful and bright, what about God Who has
created this sun? He must be higher and brighter. This bright sun is the power that moves the poet to
write such a poem. Yet, Bradstreet explains that she cannot praise God well enough because of her
inability to find suitable words that can describe His glory. She uses the two contrasting words
“humble” and “lofty” to stress the wide gap between God and man. Her words imply that man does
not have the right to be proud of himself. This is a reference to the sin committed by Satan. Because
Bradstreet is a Puritan poet she cannot ignore the religious ideas of her people. This is why she
contrasts the short life of man with the immortality of nature and God.
1
Philip Freneau: The Rising Glory of America
Philip Freneau was called the poet of the American Revolution. His poem "The Rising Glory
of America" marks the beginning of the American people; the poet is proud of belonging to this new
country and has forgotten about his English origins. The title of the poem reflects its patriotic nature,
for the poet is addressing his native people, telling them that they should be proud of living in this
new Promised Land.
In this poem, Freneau talks about three stages of American history as he sees them. First, he
refers to the past when Columbus discovered America. The poet describes this explorer and
adventurer as a hero who faced many problems and overcame many obstacles such as death, the
climate, the mighty waves of the ocean and famine in this new land. This is an attempt to glorify the
past. This is one of the most important characteristics of the 18th century. Writers used to invoke
history in an attempt to build a history for the new and young nation. Freneau speaks about Columbus
with pride to confirm that this country had a past and that its early discoverers fought hard to build
this history.
In the second stage, the poet remarks that the present is as equally glorious as the past. He
highlights the period of the American Revolution that he has lived through. It was a great action that
set the people free and gave them the chance to feel their own identity. The New World came thus to
refer to the land of freedom, happiness and democracy. He is thus happy and proud to be living in
such mighty times. The coming generations will certainly hear about the heroic actions of the present.
That is, after many years, these times are going to be remembered.
Third, the poet refers to the promising future that is in wait for his country America. Freneau
remarks that he will talk about the future of his country as if he were a seer or a prophet. He predicts
that his country will be a new Promised Land for its people, a paradise with the River Jordan running
through it; it is going to be the setting of God on earth. Yet, this paradise will know no evil or sins. He
refers to Adam's Original Sin, making it clear that this new heaven will know no sinners. America will
be a new stage of creation, a new life in which people live safe and secure; there will be no
destruction, no damage, and no injustice, but only happiness and prosperity. In this land of justice the
lion and lamb will live together without any fears or threats; it will have no thorns or evil creatures.
This poem contains many strong adjectives such as mighty, adventurous, hostile, immortal,
dangerous, and deadly. Besides, it is full of biblical allusions and images such as those referring to
Adam and his Original Sin, Jerusalem, Canaan, Paradise, and Jordan. The tone of the poem is political
and revolutionary. The word “glory” stresses the glory of the new State that is going to be the first
power in the world. In short, the poet wants to celebrate the glory of his country and show its great
status in the future.
2
Langston Hughes: I, too, Sing America
Despite the multi-cultural structure of America, the blacks went through long periods of slavery
and persecution. The Civil War that took place in America in the 1860s was a direct result of the
struggle towards ending slavery. The States of the American North wanted to abolish slavery and to
give the blacks their liberty but those of the South rejected the idea completely. The end of the War in
the defeat of the South led to the abolishing of slavery, but it was replaced with racial discrimination
and segregation. Blacks had their own streets, means of transport, schools, and were not allowed to
enter the institutions of white people such as universities and restaurants. This drove black Americans
to take pride in their own moral dignity and their racial identity. Black writers began to assert their
own African roots, but at the same time declared that they were not less respectable than white
Americans. This led to the Harlem Renaissance led by Langston Hughes and Du Bois. It was the most
significant movement in the cultural history of black Americans as it was full of black talents. Yet, the
Harlem Renaissance led to a feeling of twoness since black people began to feel that each individual
of them had two identities in one body, namely his African origins and his American identity.
Langston Hughes confirmed that the only means to achieve equality was through good
education and hard work as well as artistic production. Hughes's "I, too, Sing America" presents the
concept of the New Negro calling for justice and equality. The word "too" in the title emphasizes the
poet's desire to feel equal with white Americans because he is American like them. That is, all blacks
should enjoy their American identity, exactly as whites do. The poet's mention of the words "black
brother" stresses his feeling of brotherhood and equality with white Americans because brothers
should be equal. The only difference is that his skin is black. The poet recalls the history of his black
people in America, especially the policy of segregation, in the line "They send me to eat in the
kitchen." However, the poet expresses the strong will of the blacks and their struggle for liberty when
he declares that he does not care whether he eats with his "white" brothers at the table or alone in the
kitchen. The important thing is that he eats well and grows strong despite the segregation.
The poet's mention of the word "tomorrow" bears reference to the future of black people that he
hopes for. By receiving a good education, all blacks can achieve equality and thus they can sit at the
same table as their white brothers and no one will dare to order them to go and eat alone in the
kitchen. The poet symbolically refers to the fact that when black people become civilized and
educated they will certainly take part in the decision-making process of the country. The poet uses the
word "Then" to form a whole line as a mark of protest and objection against the wrong concept that
white America believed in, namely that black was connected with evil and white with good and
beauty. Hughes declares and confirms that the blacks are as good and beautiful as the whites and that
those who believe in the ugliness of the blacks will one day feel ashamed of themselves. The poem
ends with a repetition of the first line "I, too, sing America" to assert the blacks' identity as Americans.
3