A Reading on Horace in the Work of Charlotte Bronte, Life Life by Charlotte Bronte LIFE, believe, is not a dream So dark

as sages say; Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. Sometimes there are clouds of gloom, But these are transient all; If the shower will make the roses bloom, O why lament its fall? Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily, Enjoy them as they fly! What though Death at times steps in And calls our Best away? What though sorrow seems to win, O'er hope, a heavy sway? Yet hope again elastic springs, Unconquered, though she fell; Still buoyant are her golden wings, Still strong to bear us well. Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair! Horace said in his work, Ars Poetica, It is enough for poems to be fine; they must charm, and draw the mind of the listener at will. Charlotte Bronte, with a new kind of heroine defiantly virtuous, morally courageous and fiercely independent, brought about change in the style of fiction of the day, presenting an unconventional woman to be admired for her ability to overcome adversity. In her poem entitled, Life, readers can depict what kind of person wrote it and it really manifests the attitude of Bronte. She chose the notion in which she finds herself powerful and enriched and this is what helped her do the poem in placid. Horace said, You writers, choose a subject that is within your powers, and ponder long what your shoulders can and cannot bear. He who makes every effort to select his theme aright will be at no loss for choice words or lucid arrangements. and I shall bid a clever imitator look to life and morals for his real model, and draw thence language true to life. Thus her poem, Life, stimulates the mind of the readers into an optimistic and charming lift which reflects what of Horaces idea of an art in poetry. The poem generally talks about life: its wonders and realities. It is only subjected to what happens within a span of life. Trials, fears, hopes, joys and success are those compose a meaningful life. Bronte, presented her subject as it is and in context of what it in reality. She let it reflect on the simple events in life like the little morning rain and roses bloom. Horace said, In short, be your subject what you will, only let it be simple and consistent. Her choice of words is direct or straight forward but enticing. Also, some of the words are rejected to find a place for a new, good one. It stimulates the readers senses with the help of imageries. These imageries are used to depict life. Here are the imageries present in the poem: Kinaesthetic: Enjoy them as they fly! Visual: Sometimes there are clouds of gloom. Still buoyant are her golden wings. The use of personification is rampant. Here are examples: Life's sunny hours flit by, Can courage quell despair! Oft a little morning rain Foretells a pleasant day. This style is what Horace trying to tell in his Ars Poetica, citation follows:

Careful and nice, too, in his choice of words, the author of the promised poem must reject one word and welcome another: you will have expressed yourself admirably if a clever setting gives a spice of novelty in a familiar word. Charlotte Bronte made the poem reflect her personality. She made it as an optimistic progress until the end. In the end of the poem, courage is stressed as a source of power to conquer despair. It ended the poem nicely and still with charm and optimism. It states there that, Manfully, fearlessly, The day of trial bear, For gloriously, victoriously, Can courage quell despair! Hence, Brontes attitude towards her subject of life was contextualized to a life that is full of simplicity, contentment and courage. It fully equipped her poem to mirror what of Horace ideas of a good one. In the end, the author produced an exceptional poem. Horace said, the man who mingles the useful with the sweet carries the day by charming his reader and at the same time instructing him. As conclusion, the author, Charlotte Bronte, weaved with her passion and attitude. Through this, she inculcated in the poem what should be of legal claim about life. The poem manifested such delightful and fascinating things about life yet she did not forget to include the burdens and hurdles such as death to depict the reality as it is. Moreover, the poem not only is charming but also it is didactic for it teaches man that hope and courage are the keys to overcome any causes of sorrow.

To my Dear and Loving Husband If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that Rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence. Thy love is such I can no way repay. The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let's so persever That when we live no more, we may live ever. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet (1678) Her husband Simon Bradstreet became aMassachusettsgovernor and had to travel for weeks in keeping with his role as the administrator of the colony. The prescribed poem was born out of his absence. The subject of her poem professes unconditional love for her husband. The influence of Complementarianism is evident in her writings. Complementarianism is a theological view held by many in Christianity and other world religions that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, religious leadership, and elsewhere. It assigns leadership roles to men and support roles to women, based on the interpretation of certain biblical passages. One of its precepts is that while women may assist in the decision making process, the ultimate authority for the decision is the purview of the male in marriage, courtship, and in the

polity of churches subscribing to this view.(Wikpedia) The title of the poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" exemplifies how the spouse is not only dear to her but loves her in a complementary manner. Analysis The poetess begins by asserting that if two were ever one then it is were them. She adds up one and one- to one(instead of two) revealing how their love defies logic. The sentiment was beyond reasoning and rationalizing. Furthermore, it may refer to the union of their marital relationship where they have a reciprocal role. It illustrates the spiritual union of their souls-though they were two, their soul was one. In John Donnes Canonization he makes a similar comparison to the sexual union of the two lovers which has their soul as one and labels it as a neutral union devoid of gender as emblematized by the phoenix. The poetess marks her love as singular by singling it out :as man were ever loved by woman then it is thee. The word thee is the dative, accusative or objective case of the second person singular pronoun thou. Therefore by the statement,she renders him an object of her love.This usage is currently obsolete ,utilized only in archaic forms. She further declares that if wife were truly happy in a man ,then compare her to those women who professed to be so.By using the word 'in' she connotes how according toChristian theology,the Woman was constructed from the ribs of Man.Also,iIt was common for women to be subservient to their husbands during the seventeenth century. However, the poetess questions the fact that how many wives adhered to the same out of unconditional fondness. Ye is the plural of the pronoun of the second person in the nominative case. Also note that she uses the preposition in in the phrase wife was happy in a man. Therefore, the poetess inverts the image of a Woman being pregnant with a male child. She also inverts the linguistic tendencies of the word the man being contained in woman in words like woman that contains man, female that contains male, Mrs that has Mr.etc She treasures his love more than material wealth or mines of gold and all the rich resources of the East. The comparison utilized here can be likened to the hyperbole employed by the Petrarchan sonneteers. Only the beloveds love can compensate for the same. And in turn, his love cannot be repaid as it is infinite in its depth. The speaker entreats with the heavens to bless her in manifold ways. The lines: Then while we live, in love let's so persever,/That when we live no more, we may live ever. once again remind us of John Donnes Canonization in which he states that by virtue of their mortal love ,they will construct a memorial that will render their mortal love immortal.

Poetry analysis: To My Dear and Loving Husband, by Anne Bradstreet by Kerry Michael Wood

Created on: February 06, 2008 Last Updated: February 15, 2008 Highly educated for a woman of her time, Anne Bradstreet deserves the accolade implicit in the title of her first volume of poetry, "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America." She and her Cambridge graduate husband Simon arrived in Massachusetts Bay with the first group of settlers in 1630. It is astonishing that she found time for poetry writing when she was the mother of eight children, a housewife before electricity and the invention of labor-saving devices. Duties as a hostess must have been considerable since both her father and husband were governors of the colony. In another of her poems she describes the burning of her home on July 10, 1666. One can imagine what such a tragedy must have meant in Colonial times. Fortunately for us, her poetry had been sent to England for publication 16 years earlier and escaped destruction. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" is an intensely felt expression of wifely love and devotion that achieves its effect through the use of paradox - seeming contradictions that are nevertheless true. One example is the opening line: "If ever two were one, then surely we." The commonplace notion of marital union receives novelty with the omission of a predicate in the main clause. The device is sustained throughout next two lines expressing first the depth of her love and then her marital bliss. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee; If ever wife was happy in a man Bradstreet shifts to simile and hyperbole at line 5. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompense. She returns to paradox in her final couplet. Then when we live, in love let's so persever, That when we live no more we may live ever. The archaic verb "persever" imports the idea of abiding continuity transcending death. In addition it repeats the key term "ever," used in each of the poem's thee opening lines as well as the concluding line. Especially in these modern times, the concept of Puritanism rings with connotations of harsh, pleasureless self-denial. We automatically think of "hell-fire and brimstone" sermons and Salem witch trials, of Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards. It is refreshing to read a Puritan woman's expression of connubial delight that is both spiritual and sensual.

Bradstreet's poems are associated mostly with Romanticism. She tends to present Romanticism in the form of idealism,individualism, and the discussion of an exotic place. In Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" a very passionate love is portrayed throughout this poetic work, where she introduces a love poem that is lyrical but also has a religious element of prayer. She presents individualism in her poetic works due to her choice of material rather than just her style. Also in Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" the individualistic notion it implies is in which the way she compares herself to others. Her poetry pictures her Puritan way of thinking and is greatly known to be elegant and romantic. Anne Bradstreet expresses Romanticism in her poetry not necessarily in the sense of her own choice of subject but in the way of her own feelings.