To My Dear and Loving Husband Examples

"To My Dear and Loving Husband" is the title of a poem by Anne Bradstreet. This is the full text of the poem:

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

The theme of the poem is love, specifically the love found between a husband and wife. The speaker in the poem is a wife who is very much in love with her husband and who is satisfied in her marriage. Her tone is one of contentment and adoration for her husband. The speaker describes the depths of her love by saying that it is prized more than "mines of gold" or "all the riches that the East doth hold." She also says that it is such that "rivers cannot quench" the love that she has for her husband. The last two lines of the poem speak of the lasting legacy of such a deep, abiding love: "Then while we live, in love let's so persever, / That when we live no more, we may live ever." The speaker believes that their legendary love will carry on after they have died-their love story will "live" after they are gone.

The structure of the poem is iambic pentameter, meaning the lines have 10 syllables with a structure of 5 stressed/unstressed beats. The poem is made up of rhymed couplets.