While their lives were vastly different in many ways, Anne Bradstreet and Phillis
Wheatley are two poets that share the experience of writing through some of life’s most difficult
circumstances. Both women faced new beginnings in the New World, although these experiences
could not be more different. Bradstreet’s experience was as a colonist thrust in to a new world
facing hardships previously unknown. Wheatley was also thrust into the New World but she was
brought as a slave, with no rights and no hope. Each experience meant survival in some way and
writing became a form of salvation for these women as they penned their thoughts and feelings
for the world to see. Because they did take the time to express their thoughts, they contributed to
the fabric of their society more than they could know. Bradstreet’s poetry covers more that her
struggles, she also discusses religion, love and spirituality. Wheatley also delves into the spiritual
aspects of this life, finding a connection between her experience and hope. In fact, love and hope
emerge triumphant with these poets as they come to appreciate what they have, teaching the rest
of the world to be grateful for what life gives them.
Both poets share the common denominator of facing adversity and attempting to
overcome as best as they could. As a result, poetry becomes an outlet for both of them. Anne
Bradstreet’s life symbolizes the strength of the human spirit to overcome adversity. She was
actively writing poetry when it was probably the last thing she, or any other woman, was
expected to do. Bradstreet was a pilgrim in the new world and this circumstance gave her plenty
of topics to discuss. The contrast between her past life in Britain and her new life in the colonies
was certainly one worth exploring. Bradstreet’s life was overwhelmed with motherhood and the
inner turmoil she felt toward sin, salvation, religion, and redemption. She was mother to eight
and incredible busy with the responsibilities of running a household. These pressures only
compounded the pressures of adjusting to living in the colonies. There can be no doubt
Bradstreet was committed to writing because she clearly had to make time for it in her busy
schedule. She explores womanhood from a Puritan viewpoint but she knew how to stand her
ground and speak what she thought about things. Slavery overshadowed Wheatley’s life in a way
that many would find debilitating but she discovered how to turn that oppression into something
she could use. Wheatley discovered God after she was turned to slavery and that became
something for which she could actually be thankful. There might be plenty of reasons to hate
slavery and every few, if any reasons, to look for the good in it but that is exactly what Wheatley
does as she realizes without being brought to America, she would have missed discovering God.
Bradstreet did not attend school but that does not mean she was uneducated. Wendy
Martin writes Bradstreet received an “excellent education from her father, who was widely read”
(Martin). According to Martin, Cotton Mather claimed that Thomas Dudley (Bradstreet’s father)
as a “‘devourer of books’” (Martin). Bradstreet inherited this trait from her father, as she was
attracted to words and she had a knack for writing. Her life provided her with numerous topics to
explore and one was colonial life. Bradstreet was “not happy to exchange the comforts of the
aristocratic life of the Earl’s manor house for the privations of the New England wilderness, she
dutifully joined her father and husband and their families on the Puritan errand into the
wilderness” (Martin). When the Bradstreet’s arrived in Massachusetts in July 1630, life was
nothing if it was not distressing. Life was at best distressing as families struggled with lack of
food and the “primitive living conditions” in New England. This was no life of comfort and
Bradstreet’s “‘heart rose’ in protest against the ‘new world and new manners’” (Martin). She
“ostensibly reconciled herself to the Puritan mission” (Martin) but “‘submitted to it and joined
the Church at Boston’” (Martin). This struggle is evident in many of her poems as she attempts
to work through tough issues like redemption and salvation. For most of her life she remained
“ambivalent” (Martin). This ambivalence was no doubt worked out through writing. Other topics
of poetic interest included pleasure from the human experience. Things may have been tough but
this did not stop Bradstreet from writing. Martin says, “Perhaps the most important aspect of
Anne Bradstreet’s poetic evolution is her increasing confidence in the validity of her personal
experience as a source and subject of poetry” (Martin). She was looking for some form of
enrichment in almost every circumstance. Jeannine Hensley adds that Bradstreet is the “first in a
long line of American poets who took the consolation not from theology but from the ‘wondrous
works’” (Hensley 200) she observed while living. She may have been surrounded by bleak
situations at times but this did not stop her from appreciating what beauty there was in life. Her
poetry exposes a sense of serenity regardless of topics and it is “graceful and pleasant” (Pilgrim
New Media) and “deeply moving in its simple beauty” (Pilgrim New Media). Bradstreet could
tackle any subject and the best thing about this is the fact that she did.
Wheatley was also a woman thrust into a new world in which she was forced to make
accommodations for herself. Wheatley spoke out about the disgust of slavery and called
everyone to be hopeful. Like Bradstreet, she had a knack for writing. She tempered her passion
wisdom, which is difficult for many people in oppressive situations can do. She wrote about
slavery, worshipping God, and government issues. She knew slavery was bad but America, as a
country, was not. She was able to separate the two and see that slavery was the result of
something within mankind. She knew it was wrong to own slaves but held men accountable for
their actions, not the country in which they lived. She also learned that if slavery did not break
you as a person, it can be turned into a positive experience to help others get through tough
times. Her heart was sincere and she wanted to help others in this way. Her experience was one
of the worst but her hope was powerful. Wheatley uses her poetic voice in a unique way by
combining her Christian viewpoint with her dehumanizing experience. The speaker in many of
Wheatley’s poems is “resolute” (Adeeko) of the New World, according to Adeeko. Her voice is
new and extremely independent; it only seeks to be heard. This voice is also very personal,
which makes it even more compelling. One poem that demonstrates the power of her voice is
“On Being Brought from Africa to America,” which depicts the poet’s “most symbolic spaces as
polar opposites” (Adeeko). The journey moves from being pagan to Christian. In the pagan
world, the poet sees “ignorance, damnation, and complacency” (Adeeko) and in the American
world, she sees, “salvation, and the thirst for newness” (Adeeko). This poem is representative of
Wheatley’s sense of hope. She is looking for hope from dire circumstances as she leaves Africa
behind, says Adeeko. This is a different way of looking at the situation but this way ushers in
hope where it is needed. Hope is significant in Wheatley’s poem because hope is essential for
survival.
Religion surfaces in these women’s poem in some untraditional ways. In “To My Dear
and Loving Husband,” the poet revels a wondrous love through symbolism. She writes her love
is like the “riches that the East doth hold” (Bradstreet To My Dear and Loving Husband 6) and it
is so powerful “rivers cannot quench” (7) it. She is confident with her love and even asks her
husband to compare her love and devotion to others but he will never find anyone that loves him
as much as he does. The metaphor of the wealth of love is likened to the wealth of riches.
Another interesting aspect of this poem is the brave step Bradstreet was taking by expressing
such thoughts in a Puritan environment. This type of expression seemed forward for its day but
Bradstreet felt secure enough to explore it regardless of what her community might think.
Another significant aspect of Wheatley’s passage is religion. As we have discussed, Christianity
was a surprising result of Wheatley’s experience. We read, “mercy brought me from my Pagan
land” (Wheatley On Being Brought from Africa to America 1). America was a blessing to her
because she found God and, had she not found God, she would still be worshipping pagan gods.
This discovery is critical because it changed her spiritual life and outlook on the world. She did
not see America as an evil empire that stripped her of her family; she saw the good thing that
happened to her. Living with racism and prejudice was tough and one thing that gave her
strength to carry one was her spirituality. Some may have seen her with a “scornful eye” (5) but
she did not look at others this way. She does not allow herself to experience regret; she look for
good things to be happy about in her life. These thoughts and feelings were not “sought nor
knew” (4) and they only reinforce the notion that Wheatley was destined to have the experience
she did. Her openness to this experience allows her see how the same people that brought her and
her people to the New World for slavery were also the same people that introduced her to God.
She finds joy in the mire and believes God’s love extends to all – even those who are cruel. This
hope leads her to believe that American can improve. She may not have a clue as to how this can
happen but she still thinks it is possible. Here we see an example of being hopeful instead of
being negative. She may be in a terrible predicament but she does not blame God. None of these
thoughts or feeling would be possible without the hope the poet receives from Christianity.
Religion gives her a way of coping with her painful circumstances and hope is the beginning of
good things. In the end, she realizes hope is a much healthier choice than fear or anger.
Similarly, Bradstreet realized the importance of spirituality. In “As Weary Pilgrim,” the
poet reflects on her journey across the ocean from Britain to the New World. She also considers
the life she left behind. This poem is graceful and it captures difficult life was in the beginning.
Bradstreet uses imagery, such as describing the pilgrim’s “wasted limbs now lie full soft” (As
Weary Pilgrim 3) and
A pilgrim I, on earth perplexed
With Sins, with cares and sorrows vext,
By age and pains brought to decay,
And my clay house mold’ring away. (Bradstreet Weary Pilgrim 20-3)
The poem ends with a prayer as the poet says, “Lord make me ready for that day, / Then come,
dear Bridegroom, come away” (43-4). Here we see the importance of spirituality for survival.
Both women realized the strength of a higher power in their lives.
Survival was something slaves knew about first hand. Slavery is perhaps the worst thing a human
being can experience because of our innate desire to be free. Looking for hope in the midst of
being a captive takes strength many of us will never truly know. Wheatley’s coping mechanism
was writing and she used her writing not only to express herself but to also influence others. In
“To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” Wheatley makes a case for freedom
from England. Similar to “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” we find a personal and
passionate voice with this poem. The speaker is positive and refers to the sun, point to hope. She
writes, “Hail, happy day, when, smiling like the morn, / Fair Freedom rose New-England to
adorn” (To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth 1-2), pointing out that freedom
“shines supreme” (10). This technique is causing the reader to look at the good instead of the
bad; it looks to the future instead of at the past. The future of America was bright from the right
place and Wheatley wants William to see this point. The poet admires William and hopes to win
his favor, which will encourage him to do the right thing. She writes:
Elate with hope her race no longer mourns,
Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns,
While in thine hand with pleasure we behold
The silken reins, and Freedom’s charms unfold. (5-8)
Here we see how the poet realizes the importance of flexibility and the ability to bend with
change. These things happen with hope and Wheatley wants that hope to spread across the pond.
Wheatley believes America no longer has to mourn as a result of:
wrongs, and grievance unredress’d complain,
No longer shalt thou dread the iron chain,
Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand
Had made, and with it meant t' enslave the land. (16-20)
In these lines, the speaker does not dance around the issue of slavery. In fact, she is able to use it
to her advantage with this poem because she is pointing the many forms of slavery in the world.
The African Americans were experiencing one form of slavery and the country as a whole was,
too. She draws from personal experience to strengthen her argument. With images of the “iron
chain” (17) and “lawless hand” (18), the poet is speaking with the voice of experience and
authority. She tells William, “I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate / Was snatch’d from Afric’s
fancy’d happy seat” (24-5). There is no doubt she knows the pain of separation along with the
agony of being owned by another person. She wants all of these terrible things to end with her
generation so “Others may never feel tyrannic sway” (31). This poem is more than a poem, it is a
plea for the millions of people. Because it speaks from the heart, we believe what the speaker
says about survival.
Strength comes to the world in many ways. Many times, we recognize it but other times,
it is more subtle and arrives in non-traditional forms. Bradstreet and Wheatley are two examples
of these unconventional forms of strength that speak volumes through their work. Bradstreet and
Wheatley are women living in a man’s world. Strangely, they are both coming to America from
another country under unpleasant circumstances. Bradstreet was leaving the comforts of her
home country and learning to adjust in a New World filled with harsh realities and difficulties.
Wheatley, too, was coming from another country but not on her own terms and certainly not of
her own free will. She, too, was facing some incredible difficulties. Bradstreet was the “first
woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World Poet” (Martin), an honor recognized
because of her honest expression. Wheatley was even published in her day, something that few
slaves could do. These women illustrate how it is passion that drives the spirit to create. Each
woman felt their experience worthy enough to write down and share with others. Their brutal
honesty made them memorable. Each poet found she could make some sort of peace with their
circumstances with writing and also influence others by presenting them with something to think
about. What we learn from these two women is that there are no situations where we should
remain quiet. Whether we are facing adversity or joy, we should always try to express our
feelings in hope to connect with other people and to make a difference. These women did not
know their work would affect their communities but they did not have to know in order to create.
The demonstrate the power of the female voice at a time when women were not expected to
speak out. They inspire us to keep believing in hope when it seems there is none.
Works Cited
Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” The Norton Anthology of American
Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.
---. “As Weary Pilgrim.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New
York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.
“Anne Bradstreet.” Pilgrim New Media. ProQuest Resource Database. Information Retrieved
June 18, 2009. <http://www.proqust.com>
Hensley, Jeannine. “Anne Bradstreet.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. I.
New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 1994
Martin Wendy. “Anne Bradstreet.” Dictionary of Literary Biography. 1984. GALE Resource
Database. Information Retrieved June 18, 2009. <www.infotrac.galegroup.com>
Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Old Poetry Online Database.
Information Retrieved October 27, 2010.<http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/16706-Phillis-
Wheatley-On-Being-Brought-from-Africa-to-America>
Wheatley, Phillis. “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth.” Poems on Various
Subjects, Religious and Moral. University of Virginia Library. Information Retrieved
October 27, 2010. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WhePoem.html>
