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Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet, born 1612, died 1672, was not a preacher in the traditional sense but an English Puritan poet whose deeply religious writings reflected a preaching-like devotion to faith, making her a significant spiritual voice in early colonial America. Born Anne Dudley in Northampton, England, to Thomas Dudley, a steward for the Earl of Lincoln, and Dorothy Yorke, she was educated unusually well for a woman of her time, studying history, languages, and theology under her father’s tutelage. At 16, she married Simon Bradstreet in 1628, and in 1630, the couple sailed with her family on the Arbella to Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the Puritan migration, seeking religious freedom. Settling in Ipswich and later Andover, she raised eight children while grappling with the harsh realities of colonial life. Though not ordained or preaching from a pulpit—roles reserved for men in Puritan society—Bradstreet’s poetry served as a form of spiritual exhortation, weaving biblical themes and personal faith into works like The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), published without her consent by her brother-in-law in London. Poems such as “Upon the Burning of Our House” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” reveal a preacherly meditation on God’s providence, submission, and eternal hope, resonating with Puritan sermons of her day. Her health declined after a bout with smallpox in 1656, and she died on September 16, 1672, in Andover, likely from tuberculosis or childbirth complications.
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Anne Bradstreet reflects on her recent illness, acknowledging God's faithfulness in sustaining her through sickness and delivering her from adversity. She expresses her desire to show gratitude not just in words but in actions, living a life that testifies to God's goodness and mercy. Bradstreet's poem conveys her thankfulness for God's restoration, redemption, and healing, as well as her commitment to walk in humble obedience and praise through her life's experiences.
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Meditation May 11, 1661
It hath pleased God to give me a long time of respite for these 4 years that I have had no great fit of sickness, but this year from the middle of January till May I have been by fits very ill and weak. The first of this month I had a fever seized upon me which indeed was the longest and sorest that ever I had, lasting 4 days, and the weather being very hot made it the more tedious, but it pleased the Lord to support my heart in His goodness, and hear my prayers, and to deliver me out of adversity. But alas! I cannot render unto the Lord according to all His loving kindness, nor take the cup of salvation with thanksgiving as I ought to do. Lord, Thou that knowest all things know'st that I desire to testify my thankfulness not only in word, but in deed, that my conversation may speak that Thy vows are upon me. My thankful heart with glorying tongue Shall celebrate Thy name, Who hath restored, redeemed, recured From sickness, death, and pain. I cried, Thou seem'st to make some stay, I sought more earnestly And in due time Thou succour'st me And sent'st me help from high. Lord, whilst my fleeting time shall last, Thy goodness let me tell, And new experience I have gained My future doubts repel. An humble, faithful life, O Lord, Forever let me walk; Let my obedience testify My praise lies not in talk. Accept, O Lord, my simple mite, For more I cannot give. What Thou bestow'st I shall restore, For of thine alms I live.
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Anne Bradstreet, born 1612, died 1672, was not a preacher in the traditional sense but an English Puritan poet whose deeply religious writings reflected a preaching-like devotion to faith, making her a significant spiritual voice in early colonial America. Born Anne Dudley in Northampton, England, to Thomas Dudley, a steward for the Earl of Lincoln, and Dorothy Yorke, she was educated unusually well for a woman of her time, studying history, languages, and theology under her father’s tutelage. At 16, she married Simon Bradstreet in 1628, and in 1630, the couple sailed with her family on the Arbella to Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the Puritan migration, seeking religious freedom. Settling in Ipswich and later Andover, she raised eight children while grappling with the harsh realities of colonial life. Though not ordained or preaching from a pulpit—roles reserved for men in Puritan society—Bradstreet’s poetry served as a form of spiritual exhortation, weaving biblical themes and personal faith into works like The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), published without her consent by her brother-in-law in London. Poems such as “Upon the Burning of Our House” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” reveal a preacherly meditation on God’s providence, submission, and eternal hope, resonating with Puritan sermons of her day. Her health declined after a bout with smallpox in 1656, and she died on September 16, 1672, in Andover, likely from tuberculosis or childbirth complications.