Anne Bradstreet and Wilderness

I didn't notice a lot of wilderness is Anne Bradstreet's poems. Most of her poetry has to do with her relationship with God and the important people in her life. There was only one poem that I noticed wilderness being mentioned. That poem is "Contemplations." She uses wilderness to relate back to God. She’s amazed at the entire wilderness she sees in her life because it is all God’s work. Take the oak tree she sees for example. “Then on a stately oak I cast mine eye, / Whose ruffling top the clouds seemed to aspire; / How long since thou wast in thine infancy? / Thy strength, and stature, more thy years admire, / Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born?” (lines 15-19).

This is different than how the other writers we have read looked at wilderness. With  Cabeza de Vaca, Rowlandson, and Jewett wilderness shaped their view. Bradstreet uses wilderness to reinforce her beliefs though. God created all these wonderful things that Bradstreet sees like “ [the] leaves and fruits seemed painted, but was true, / Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue” (lines 5-6). Everything around her is so beautiful. She even talks about how amazing that wilderness goes on living and growing even when humans are dying. A year for humans is basically just a couple of days for wilderness. She thinks that’s amazing. “Shall I then praise the heavens, the trees, the earth / Because their beauty and their strength last longer?” (lines 134-135). While some people would be bitter because wilderness gets a so much longer life, Bradstreet is amazed. All of the things around her Is God’s work and it’s all truly amazing and beautiful how it all lives in different ways.