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Lyric Poem · Love

Upon My Dear and Loving Husband his Going into England Jan. 16

by Anne Bradstreet

1O thou Most High who rulest all

2And hear'st the prayers of thine,

3O hearken, Lord, unto my suit

4And my petition sign.

5Into Thy everlasting arms Of mercy

6I commend Thy servant, Lord.

7Keep and preserve My husband,

8my dear friend.

9At Thy command, O Lord, he went,

10Nor nought could keep him back.

11Then let Thy promise joy his heart,

12O help and be not slack.

13Uphold my heart in Thee, O God.

14Thou art my strength and stay,

15Thou see'st how weak and frail I am,

16Hide not Thy face away.

17I in obedience to Thy will

18Thou knowest did submit.

19It was my duty so to do;

20O Lord, accept of it.

21Unthankfulness for mercies past

22Impute Thou not to me.

23O Lord, Thou know'st my weak desire

24Was to sing praise to Thee.

25Lord, be Thou pilot to the ship

26And send them prosperous gales.

27In storms and sickness, Lord, preserve.

28Thy goodness never fails.

29Unto Thy work he hath in hand

30Lord, grant Thou good success

31And favour in their eyes to whom

32He shall make his address.

33Remember, Lord, Thy folk whom Thou

34To wilderness hast brought;

35Let not Thine own inheritance

36Be sold away for nought.

37But tokens of Thy favour give,

38With joy send back my dear

39That I and all Thy servants may

40Rejoice with heavenly cheer.

41Lord, let my eyes see once again

42Him whom Thou gavest me

43That we together may sing praise

44Forever unto Thee.

45And the remainder of our days

46Shall consecrated be

47With an engaged heart to sing

48All praises unto Thee.

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Quick facts

Poem
Upon My Dear and Loving Husband his Going into England Jan. 16
Poet
Anne Bradstreet
Length
48 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Love, Peace, Friendship

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
48 lines · 12 quatrains
Line length
Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record
Anne Bradstreet1612–1672
Source record
PoetryDBUpon My Dear and Loving Husband his Going into England Jan. 16 by anne-bradstreet, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 2ff1bb16c8a90626
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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