Colonial Literature – Puritan Beginnings – Winthrop, Bradstreet, & Sewall
12 To My Dear and Loving Husband
Anne Bradstreet
If ever two were one then surely we,
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole Mines of Gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee, manifold I pray.
Then while we live in love let’s so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
(1650)
Source:
Anne Bradstreet and Her Time, Helen Campbell, Public Domain