The Four Monarchies Analysis

In the beginning of Paula Kopacz article, she addresses concern about whether Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “The Four Monarchies,” is finished or not. Kopacz explains how Bradstreet is “restless” to finish the poem, and that “the circumstances made finishing impossible” (175). Although many people have supported that this poem was not finished, Kopacz argues that the poem was finished after Bradstreet successfully reached New England. Critics do not recognize the finished poem because it was not finished appropriately. Since the poem was not completed appropriately, according to Kopacz, Anne Bradstreet’s poetry was recognized “primarily for its historical value” (176). Some men of the early American literacy awareness, recognize Anne Bradstreet …show more content…
She has “resentment” toward the “Puritan narrowness of thinking and harshness of living” (177 Kopacz). As Bradstreet writes more, her holiness is overthrown. Kopacz points out the that there is a direct relation of the orthodoxy and Bradstreet’s endings. Bradstreet’s view through “literary and religious contexts,” explain how she understands the world. The endings are also important because Bradstreet reveals significant information about herself. Bradstreet’s “eschatological thinking” explains her feelings that any conclusion, religious or literary, are equivalent to each other. Kopacz suggests that Bradstreet’s endings “finish her poems and conclude them as well” (178). Even though Bradstreet may or may not have found peace in her endings, does not mean that the poem is not finished. It means that Bradstreet finishes her poems by leaving it up to the reader to find satisfactory in the endings. The fact that Bradstreet’s endings answer the “intellectual and emotional questions raised, but also a feeling of ultimate conclusion and accomplishment,” supports Kopacz argument that the poems are finished (178). Although, this does not support why Bradstreet did not finish “The Four Monarchies.” Bradstreet apologizes for not being able to finish the historical account. Kopacz explains that the “Apology” is in fact an ending because Bradstreet’s reasons provide the reader with “satisfaction of an answered question, a sense of conclusion”