"To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet

Thy love is such I can no way repay; The heavens reward thee threefold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persever, That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan idea that marriage is a gift from God comes over clearly in ‘To My Dear and Loving Husband.’ Reading it from a modern lens, it’s easy to start the poem feeling a little dubious; but, Bradstreet’s real thankfulness and loyalty to her husband eventually manifests to make it a very affecting expression of true love.