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[1] but love from thee, give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,

The heavens reward thee manifold[2], I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere

That when we live no more, we may live ever._______

1. Discuss the following questions.

1) The poem can be described as a tribute to _____.

A. youth B. marriage C. God D. faith

2) Which of the following can best restate the last two lines of the poem?

A. As long as we live, we’ll love each other.

B. As long as one of us lives, our love will live.

C. Let’s love each other so well that we live on after death.

D. If we’re very determined, we’ll be able to love each other until we die.

3) In which set of Lines does the speaker of the poem establish her unity with her husband?

A. Lines 1～4. B. Lines 5 and 6. C. Lines 7 and 8. D. Lines 9～12.

4) In Lines 5～8 of the poem, the speaker develops the idea that the love in her marriage is _____.

A. moral B. eternal C. strong D. spiritual

5) The speaker of the poem feels that her husband’s love for her is ________.

A. far weaker than her love for him

B. slightly weaker than her love for him

C. as powerful as her love for him

D. far stronger than her love for him

2. Read and recite the poem. Translate the poem into Chinese and compare your version with your partners’.

Notes

1.The Magi: They were the so-called three wise men from the east who traveled to Bethlehem, following a bright star, to present gifts-gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. They have been identified in western tradition as Balthasar, king of Arabia; Melchior, king of Persia; and Gaspar, king of India.

2.O. Henry (1862-1910): Henry was the pseudonym of the American writer William Sydney Porter. His short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.

3.Queen of Sheba: She was a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in the Bible. The Queen of Sheba journeyed to King Solomon’s Jerusalem to “prove him with hard questions”. Solomon’s wisdom and the greatness of his court impressed the queen, she gave him rich gifts, he gave her “all her desire”, and she returned, never to be heard from again.

4.King Solomon: The biblical King Solomon was known for his wisdom, his wealth and his writings. He became ruler in approximately 967 B.C. and his kingdom extended from the Euphrates River in the north to Egypt in the south. His crowning achievement was the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

5.Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973): Also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu, she was an award-winning American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

6.Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672): She was the most prominent of early English poets and the first female writer in England’s North American colonies to be published. She wrote of domestic and religious themes.

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