1. 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

2. How can people’s beliefs affect their actions?
Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, by Anne Bradstreet
The Granger Collection, New York
How can people’s beliefs affect their actions?

3. Click on the title to start the video.
Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, Introducing the Poem
Click on the title to start the video.

4. 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.
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5. 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 opponent’s defense was an impenetrable wall.
The hawk, a bolt of lightning, caught its prey.

6. 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 Puritan’s 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.

7. 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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8. 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 author’s work.
Influences can be
social
economic
cultural
intellectual
religious
political

9. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Historical Context
The context of Bradstreet’s 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

10. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Political Context
Analyzing literature’s political contexts often includes the study of gender.
The study of gender examines how concepts of masculinity and femininity influence an author’s work.

11. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Perspectives
Political Context
Puritan women’s influence was often limited to the domestic sphere.
How might Bradstreet’s identity as a Puritan woman have influenced her reaction to the loss of her home?
The Granger Collection, New York
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12. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 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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13. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, Reading Focus: Analyzing Text Structures
Into Action: Use a chart to rewrite Bradstreet’s 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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14. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 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 Bradstreet’s 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.

15. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
To understand an implied metaphor, first change inverted word order to normal order and update the vocabulary.
“Thou hast an house on high erect,
Framed by that mighty Architect, . . .”
In heaven you have an intact house
Built by that mighty Architect.
Then, ask yourself what is being compared. In this case, who or what is the “mighty Architect”?

16. Vocabulary

17. 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.

18. 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 city’s homeless men, women, and children, the city council vowed to take action.
What emotions are likely to have inspired the council to take action?

19. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
Which of these animals might emit a piteous cry?

20. 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?

21. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Vocabulary
Although the flood waters washed away Blanca’s possessions and destroyed her home, it could not consume her spirit.
Which of these words best describes Blanca?
a. determined
b. pleased
c. depressed

22. 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 Jose’s mother.
Does Jose’s mother approve of his pastime?

23. 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 children’s shelter
c. buying a second car

24. 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 adjectives—descriptive words—might the tourists use when they describe what they see?

25. 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

26. The End 26 26

27. QuickWrite

28. 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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29. Meet the Writer

30. 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 book’s surprising success encouraged her to keep writing.
More about the writer
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31. Build Background

32. 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.

33. 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.
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