Love for Poetry - Analysis 2 : To My Dear And Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet

To My Dear And Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

The poem opens with two "if/then" statements, which sets up quite a logical tone although the subject isn't logical at all: it's love.

In the first statement, the speaker says that if ever two people were one person, then she and her husband surely are.

In the second, she says that if ever any man has been loved by his wife, he (her husband) has been.

After "we" in the first line, you have to supply "are." The same is true with "thee" (an old word for "you") in the second line.

The port might be trying to say that they feels such a powerful feeling to one another that they feel like they are one person. From these two lines alone, we get the idea that both of them are the ultimate couple."thee" is actually also an implication of familiarity or intimacy.

The first two lines are a rhyming couplet, which means they are two lines that repeat the same sound at the end. The couplets are as relentless as the poet with her love.

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

In repeating the phrase "If ever," line 3 the poet continues the way she begins in lines 2 and 3. She says that, if there was ever a wife that was happy with a guy, it's her. The poet might be trying to empathize that they are the perfect couple

The word "compare" here means something like "rival" or "compete with”. The speaker is telling other women to try to be as happy with their men as she is with hers. This might implies that she thinks that no woman can be as happy as her with their men and she is the happiest. It gives us a feeling she is trying to show off her happiness.

For the most parts, she address her husband however in these lines she address the other women, this gives me the feeling that she might be warning the other women to back off.

I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

The speaker continues to speak about her love for her husband, and continues with comparisons to prove her point.

She says she loves him more than gold mines and all the "riches" of the "East." Back in those days East was seen as a place of unimaginable wealth and bounty.

One word that jumps out to us here is "prize." It makes us think of winning things, or receiving a reward for something, which makes sense when you think of how much she values her husband and his love. But still, it's also a strange word to use because "prize" reminds us of precisely the materialistic things. 

My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.

The poet describe her love is so great that not even a river can "quench" it, and the only thing that can give her "recompense" is love from her husband.

The word "quench" means lots of things, It usually means to extinguish, put out, or satisfy. We often say, for example, "I need to quench my thirst with a glass of water." This can be seen as her love for him is so passionate and deep that “Rivers cannot quench”. It meant that her love for his husband is so deep that only his husband’s love can satisfy.

The use of “recompense” might meant that Anne’s love for him is so deep that perhaps it is like a wound caused by the need of love, and only her husband’s love can repair it.

There is a use of metaphor with these two lines.

Thy love is such I can no way repay.

The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

The poet stats “Thy love is such I can no way repay.” This meant that she feels that his husband’s love for her is so great that she cannot repay. She also implied that she hope the heavens or God would reward his husband for her. “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray”.

The 10^th line is in reverse order, the poet might be constructing the line in such a way where the most important come first. The poet might be trying to show perhaps comparison of importance among the three of them- the God, her husband and herself.

Then while we live, in love let's so persevere

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

The speaker concludes the poem by saying that she and her husband should love each other so strongly that they're love will persevere even after their passing.

 By “live ever”, the poet perhaps is trying to implies that she hopes that their stories of love might live on even after she dies. In this way, they will "live ever." She could also be suggesting that their love should be so strong that even in the afterlife they would be together .

 The word “persevere” and “in love” is also used, the poet might be trying to imply that whatever difficulties or challenges they faced in the name of love they shall persevere.

The last two lines is a new version of the first stanza's "if/then" statements. Her final "if/then". The last two lines imply that if they love steadily their whole lives, they could be together even in thir afterlife.