Anne Bradstreet, "To Her Father with Some Verses"

In Anne Bradstreet's poem, "To Her Father with Some Verses", the language and metaphors are used to explain the role that her father had and how she saw him in the Puritan society.

In the beginning of the poem, it is apparent that Bradstreet loves her father and believes that he is an honorable man. This is evident as the first line is, "Most truly honored, and as truly dear." As the poem progresses, Bradstreet speaks of the many things that her father did for her so she does not know how to pay him back. This is supported by lines 7 and 8, "My stock's so small I know not how to pay, My bond remains in force unto this day;" Further along in the poem, Bradstreet states that she is in debt to her father and she will try to pay him back until she passes. This is supported by lines 12 through 14; "But as I can, I'll pay it while I live; Such is my bond, none can discharge but I, Yet paying is not paid until I die."

Based on Bradstreet's poem to her father, I believe that he was a good father to her because she wants to repay him for the opportunities that he'd given her. I think this is true because she feels so in debt to him that she will be paying it back until her death. By reading the poem, I feel that the men in the Puritan culture have important roles because they are the people who support the family and provide for them.

**Note: All literary texts are from The Norton Anthology of American Literature; Vol. A; Page 195**