Anne Bradstreet and Wilderness

In Anne Bradstreets' poetry you may see some hints of wilderness, but it is only a few. The main poem you see nature is in her poem Contemplations. In this poem she says:

Then higher on the glistering Sun I gaz’d,

Whose beams was shaded by the leafy Tree.

The more I look’d, the more I grew amaz’d

And softly said, what glory’s like to thee?

 

This shows her amazement in the beauty of the sun and the shade provided by the tree. She then goes on to say what glory's like to thee which seems as if she is contemplating who gets the glory for this. She also says:

 

I heard the merry grasshopper then sing,

The black clad Cricket bear a second part.

They kept one tune and played on the same string,

Seeming to glory in their little Art.

 

This is showing the nature os the creatures and the sounds they make. Also all throughout this poem you see her faith and love of God. She goes to this place to escape and speak with God. To continue with her faith. That shows a different kind of wilderness. A wilderness through the mind. Ap place you go physical and then you mentally are able to escape into the wilderness.

Captivity Wilderness vs. Sylvia's Wilderness

In the captivity of Mary Rowlandson she sees the wilderness as unwanted. She was taken against her will and dragged through the wilderness with the natives. When you are doing something that you didn't want to do you tend to find yourself not liking what you are doing. Mary cannot find the beauty in the wilderness because it is done against her will. All she sees in being taken against her will is the negativity. Any person doing something against their will would find it hard to think of positive things.

Sylvia on the other hand took full advantage of the wilderness. She is very open to it and positive about it. She looks at it as beauty and something to imbrace where Mary did not. Mary found it to be a struggle to be there because it was against her will. Sylvia openly goes into the wilderness. She looks to it as a friend and something to welcome into her life. Sylvia lives for the wild, and if given the choice I think she may even live in the wild. Maybe, besides being alone, Sylvia would have enjoyed, and been open to being in captivity.