Poetry

Here Follow Several Occasional Meditations
by Anne Bradstreet

By night when others soundly slept,
And had at once both case and rest,
My waking eyes were open kept
And so to lie I found it best.

I sought Him whom my soul did love,
With tears I sought Him earnestly;
He bowed His ear down from above.
In vain I did not seek or cry.

My hungry soul He filled with good,
He in His bottle put my tears,
My smarting wounds washed in His blood,
And banished thence my doubts and fears.

What to my Savior shall I give,
Who freely hath done this for me?
I'll serve Him here whilst I shall live
And love Him to eternity.

This was written by Anne Bradstreet, who was considered to be one of the first American poets. She lived from 1612-1672 and was married to Governor Simon Bradstreet. Much of her poetry was written during the intense loneliness as her husband travelled, such as her most famous poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband." I find her poetry fascinating, because it was radical for a Puritan woman to be writing/publishing poetry and because of the honest, spiritual themes of her poetry written during hard times.

I hope you enjoyed this poem.. and if nothing else, now ya know something new about American history! :)