Compare and Contrast the two
Psalm 23 A Psalm of David (pgs. 8
& 9)
• What is the metaphor?
• What about imagery?
• Symbolism?
How is The Day of Doom (1662) stylistically
different from the 23 A Psalm of David
even though it is written in Puritan plain
style?
Anne Bradstreet
Plain Style and Ornate Style
Plain Style
• Simple words in clear order
• Most Puritan’s wrote in plain style
because, as they saw it, God’s word could
not be improved by human decoration
• Wished to make divine words so everyone
could understand it
• Homely and raw “from the wilderness”
Ornate Style
• Meaning can be simple but clouded by the
ornate style
– References to ideas/works people may not
know
– Odd sentence structure
– parallelism
According to Benjamin Franklin
(not a Puritan) plain style writing
should be “smooth, clear, and
short.”
• Perhaps this style has persisted over time
b/c it appeals to American democracy, its
straightforwardness, its ability to be
understood by all, and the fact that it
doesn’t hide the naked truth.
The Tenth Muse Lately Spring Up
in America
• 1st volume of poems
published by an
American
• One of the 1st volumes of
poetry in English written
by a woman
– Anne Bradstreet
Bradstreet’s poetry
• Some longer poems written in learned
style on subjects such as medicine,
history, and qualities of fire (in 1st
published edition of poetry)
• 2nd edition (28yrs later) contains shorter
poems written in a simpler style, about
children, husband, and home
• Recurring theme: Puritan belief that one
must not become too attached to things of
the world
To be a woman
• Bradstreet, as other
Puritan women,
believed that men were
superior to women
• She felt it improper for a
woman to appear in
print
• Too bad for her
beliefs…she is
considered the 1st
American poet.
Literary Terms
• Diction---kinds of words chosen by an author
(long, short, common, uncommon, etc…)
– Bradstreet’s diction is of the plain style---short
and conversational
• Iambic couplet
– Iambic refers to rhythmical pattern of
unaccented syllable followed by accented
– Couplet refers to two successive lines that
rhyme
– Both of Bradstreet’s poems are iambic
couplets
If ever two were one, then surely we
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.
Assignment
• Puritan Themes
• Prove the iambic couplet.
• Detail her diction…plain style and
ornamentation.