Epitaphs

Anne Bradstreet 1612 (Northampton) – 1672 (Andover)



Her Mother's Epitaph

Here lies
A worthy matron of unspotted life,
A loving mother and obedient wife,
A friendly neighbor, pitiful to poor,
Whom oft she fed, and clothed with her store;
To servants wisely aweful, but yet kind,
And as they did, so they reward did find:
A true instructor of her family,
The which she ordered with dexterity,
The public meetings ever did frequent,
And in her closest constant hours she spent;
Religious in all her words and ways,
Preparing still for death, till end of days:
Of all her children, children lived to see,
Then dying, left a blessed memory.

Her Father's Epitaph

Within this tomb a patriot lies
That was both pious, just and wise,
To truth a shield, to right a wall,
To sectaries a whip and maul,
A magazine of history,
A prizer of good company
In manners pleasant and severe
The good him loved, the bad did fear,
And when his time with years was spent
In some rejoiced, more did lament.
1653, age 77

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 22, 2023

52 sec read
133

Quick analysis:

Scheme A BCCXXDDEEXFGGEE A BBHHEEIIFFX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 924
Words 174
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 1, 15, 1, 11

Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet was the first poet and first female writer in the British North American colonies to be published. more…

All Anne Bradstreet poems | Anne Bradstreet Books

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