Great Regulars: But, in the 17th century, [Anne] Bradstreet

was still mostly whistling back toward home, and a poem like "To My Dear and Loving Husband" declares loving faith, allegiance and union both with her husband and, by my reading, with England and English verse, too.

Later this year, when we get to the late 20th-century poetry of Adrienne Rich, we will see how far the Colonies have come from a poetry that sings of the rewards of obedience to a poetry that, quoting the title of a recent book by Rich (which itself quotes the ending phrase of "The Great Gatsby"), decries "the dark fields of the republic."

To My Dear and Loving Husband

from David Biespiel: The Oregonian: Colonial-era poet Anne Bradstreet writes to reach the reader's soul

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