To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet (Poem #8)

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.

I liked how this poem was written overall. She’s comparing the love she has to riches, that she prizes their love more than people would prize many mines of gold or any riches. She is explaining that her love cannot quench a river because there is too much of it, that there is no way to make it stop. The narrator knows that this love has no price tag, so it cannot be repaid. She is hoping that no matter what, their love with continue through, in which the author said, “Then while we live, in love let’s so persever”.  All of these things make the poem very interesting to follow, and easy to understand how much she may love her husband, which is implied to be endless. It’s weird though because it almost sounds like she is implying that she will never love him as much as he loves her. The narrator also mentioned this idea, “If ever two were one, then surely we,” which indicates they are like ‘two peas in a pod’, always on the same page, with the same mind set; it’s interesting she didn’t outwardly say this, but from this quote, the reader can interpret what the narrator was trying to say between the lines. It’s also interesting the fact that the narrator is speaking of her love as an object, rather than a feeling in itself. She’s describing love as something that cannot quench thirst, and something that is better than gold itself; when we think of these things, we think of an object, but when we think of love, we do not think of an object.