“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Introduction

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“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Summary

“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Themes

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  The Inevitability of Death

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  Remembrance and Legacy

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  Motherhood and Childbirth

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Before the Birth of One of Her Children”

• Lines 1-4

  All things within this fading world hath end,
  Adversity doth still our joyes attend;
  No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet,
  But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  The sentence past is most irrevocable,
  A common thing, yet oh inevitable.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-8

  How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend,
  How soon’t may be thy Lot to lose thy friend,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  We are both ignorant, yet love bids me
  These farewell lines to recommend to thee,
  That when that knot’s untied that made us one,
  I may seem thine, who in effect am none.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-18

  And if I see not half my dayes that’s due,
  What nature would, God grant to yours and you;
  The many faults that well you know I have
  Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
  If any worth or virtue were in me,
  Let that live freshly in thy memory

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-24

  And when thou feel’st no grief, as I no harms,
  Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms.
  And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains
  Look to my little babes, my dear remains.
  And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me,
  These o protect from step Dames injury.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse,
  With some sad sighs honour my absent Herse;
  And kiss this paper for thy loves dear sake,
  Who with salt tears this last Farewel did take.

  

  

  

  

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“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Hath
• Doth
• Joyes
• Attend
• Irrevocable
• Thy
• Lot
• Thee
• Thine
• Dayes
• Interr'd
• Oblivious
• Step Dames
• Herse

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Before the Birth of One of Her Children”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Speaker

“Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Before the Birth of One of Her Children”

More “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Resources

• External Resources

  • Anne Bradstreet's Biography — Read about the poet's life and work.

  • Women in Puritan Society — Explore a study guide about the roles and rights of Puritan women.

  • America's First Poet — Listen to an NPR piece about the life and work of Anne Bradstreet.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to the poet Robert Pinsky reading the poem aloud.

  • Childbirth in Early America — Read a history of childbirth in colonial America.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Anne Bradstreet

  • The Author to Her Book

  • To My Dear and Loving Husband

  • Verses upon the Burning of our House