1. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet
Feature Menu
Introducing the Poem
Literary Focus: The Plain Style
Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Inversion

2. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet

3. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet
We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties.
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)

4. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 by Anne Bradstreet
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: The Plain Style
Puritan writers favored the plain style—a way of writing that stresses
simplicity
clarity of expression
the use of everyday words
Puritan writings may now seem hard to read, but to readers in the 1600s, they sounded simple and direct.

6. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Literary Focus: The Plain Style
Although Bradstreet uses figurative language in her poetry, her writing is still influenced by strong, simple Puritan style and diction.
“Here stood that trunk, and there that chest,
There lay that store I counted best.”
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7. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, Reading Skills: Analyzing Text Structures: Inversion
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.
Normal order
My pleasant things lie in ashes,
And I shall behold them no more.
Inversion
“My pleasant things in ashes lie,
And them behold no more shall I.”
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8. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Background
The Puritans
Although the Puritans were industrious and often acquired worldly goods, they considered it sinful to place too much pride on personal possessions.
What emotional conflict might Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet have felt about losing her home to a fire?
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9. Quickwrite

10. Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Quickwrite
Make the Connection
This poem is a response to a terrible personal loss. In trying to work through her loss, this poet portrays an internal debate, a dialogue between herself and her soul. Notice the points at which Bradstreet questions her thoughts and emotions. Note also your own responses. Before you read, take some notes on what your response might be if all the material things you hold dear went up in flames.
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11. Meet the Writer

12. 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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