Another

by Anne Bradstreet — a poem card from Justes Mots

This poem expresses profound grief over separation from a beloved, comparing the speaker's anguish to a hind seeking her deer, a mournful dove, and a devoted mullet. Written in the 17th century by Anne Bradstreet, a prominent early American poet, it uses extended animal metaphors to convey the depth of conjugal love and the pain of forced parting. The poem captures the yearning for reunion and the emptiness of life without one's beloved.

As loving hind that (hartless) wants her deer,
Scuds through the woods and fern with hark'ning ear,
Perplext, in every bush and nook doth pry,
Her dearest deer, might answer ear or eye;
So doth my anxious soul, which now doth miss
A dearer dear (far dearer heart) than this.
Still wait with doubts, and hopes, and failing eye,
His voice to hear or person to descry.…

Themes: sympathy · grief · love · reflection