Fernandez 1

Isabella Fernandez de Castro

Bunosky

English III Honors, Block 4

2 September 2019

Treasures in Heaven

Work towards the treasures of the eternal life, not the temporary life. As better

exemplified in the verse, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth but store up for

yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” (Matthew

6:19:21). Anne Bradstreet comes to accept this belief in her poem, “Upon the Burning of Our

House”. Bradstreet learns to dissolve her ties to the world and strengthens her belief in God.

She does this through the themes of tension, ambivalence, and acceptance.

The theme of tension is emphasized in the beginning of the poem to illustrate the

mood of the situation. Bradstreet states, “I wakened was with thund’ring noise. And piteous

shrieks of dreadful voice.” (Bradstreet line 3-4). Bradstreet creates a deep understanding of

the tension built from the beginning of the poem, through the use of strong adjectives. She

tells the reader how she was woken up from “thund’ring noise” and “piteous shrieks”. Here,

Bradstreet accentuates the imagery as it helps the reader picture the tension building up

throughout the poem. This is also exemplified in the next lines of the poem, “That fearful

sound of “Fire!” and “Fire!” Let no man know is my desire.” (Bradstreet lines 5-6). Bradstreet

show an emotion of distress and tension as she realizes the house is on fire. This can also be

interpreted in such a way as God himself telling Bradstreet to leave the house. In other words,

the screams of “Fire!” are from God warning her. And when Bradstreet states, “Let no man

know is my desire” she means she will tell no one of this conversation to survive.
 Fernandez 2

Bradstreet shows the theme of ambivalence as she re-directs her thoughts and

opinions about her belongings during the poem. She symbolizes this in the line, “And when

I could no longer look, I blest his name that gave and took.” (Bradstreet lines 13-14).

Bradstreet shows a sudden change of heart, after seeing her house burn down until she “could

no longer look” because it had all perished. In that moment, she realizes that she is grateful

to God, for he took away all of her earthly possessions. She is grateful because she is aware

that it is God who gave her those things, and he can just as easily take them away. Bradstreet

also states, “It was his own, not mine. Far be that I should repine.” (Bradstreet lines 17-18).

In other words, Bradstreet means that those material possessions were given to her by God

and she should not repine even when they are gone. Bradstreet believes that the burning of

her house was the will of God, that might have happened to bring her closer to God.

Bradstreet embodies the theme of acceptance as she accepts the loss of her material

belongings. Bradstreet showcases this through the line, “A price so vas as is unknown yet by

his gift is made thine own.” (Bradstreet lines 49-50). Bradstreet accepts her loss and rejoices

in the fact that God has taken the things which he has first given, and now takes back. Put

differently, Bradstreet says that the house she will be given in heaven will be far greater and

the price of it will be unknown since it was given to her by Christ. This point is further proven

in the line, “Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store… My hope and treasure lies above.”

(Bradstreet lines 52-54). For Bradstreet, her greatest treasure is waiting for her in heaven.

She bids farewell to her home, as she remembers all of the memories of the time she lived

there with her family. In a way, she bids farewell to the distractions that keep her from

focusing on God. She has accepted the loss of her former “treasure” for a far greater one in

heaven, this help her strengthen her belief in God.

 Fernandez 3

To conclude, Bradstreet shows a range of themes throughout the poem, where it helps

the reader see how she changes her beliefs along the way. Through the themes of tension,

ambivalence, and acceptance, Bradstreet learns that she had to let go of the ties keeping her

from focusing on her religion. In the end, she acknowledges that her biggest treasure is

waiting for her in heaven. The message that it leaves on the reader is one to focus on the

aspects in life far greater than that of material possessions because they stay behind when we

are gone. Our greatest treasure is waiting for us in heaven.

Works Cited
 Fernandez 4

Bradstreet, Anne. “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Glencoe American Literature, by

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm et al., Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009, pp. 91.

“BibleGateway.” Matthew 6:19-21 NIV - - Bible Gateway,

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6:19-21&version=NIV.