A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment

A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment

In Anne Bradstreet: A letter to her husband, Absent upon Public Employment She uses various metaphors and astronomy/astrology terminologies to describe what she feels for her husband, while he is away on public employment. One of her main metaphors that she uses is the sun, as well as reference to the zodiac signs.

She begins her letter by saying " My head, my heart, mine eyes, my life, nay, more,

My joy, my magazine of earthly store,

If two be one, as surely thou and I,

How stayest thou there, whilst I at Ipswich lie?"

In the first few lines, lines 1 through 5 of her letter, she says that her husband is her whole world, her head, her, heart, her eyes, what more should I say to describe what I feel? Her joy, magazine in this context means the place where she stores her happiness; it's where her happiness lies. Now that he is away how is she expected to stay home and be happy?

My Sun is gone so far in's zodiac,

Whom whilst I 'joyed, nor storms, nor frost I felt,

His warmth such frigid colds did cause to melt.

My chilled limbs now numbed lie forlorn;

Return; return, sweet Sol, from Capricorn;

In this dead time, alas, what can I more

Than view those fruits which through thy heat I bore?

Which sweet contentment yield me for a space,

True living pictures of their father's face.

In lines 8-16 , the sun which she refers to as her husband, is gone so far away and are now on opposite sides of the world( south vs. north), she is cold needs his warmth to melt away the chills, she requires him to return from the south and head back to her in the north. She does not know what else she can do to avid missing her husband, her only comfort is in looking at their kids which reminds her so much of him.

But when thou northward to me shalt return,

I wish my Sun may never set, but burn

Within the Cancer of my glowing breast,

The welcome house of him my dearest guest.

Where ever, ever stay, and go not thence,

Till nature's sad decree shall call thee hence;

Flesh of thy flesh, bone of thy bone,

I here, thou there, yet but both one.

In the last few lines