I believe that the contradiction of rhyming all but the last two lines may be a rebellious act against the Puritans and their religious beliefs. Bradstreet grew up during "intense religious controversy" and she was well educated by those who sometimes preached nonconformity. (McQuade, Atwan, etc. 95) With the last line ending with "we may live ever." not rhyming, she is questioning the theory of heaven, hell and the afterlife. In "Here Follows Some Versus upon the Burning of Our House," Bradstreet again creates a theme by putting together this beautifully mastered, fifty four-line poem and having only two lines not rhyme.
In "Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House," Anne Bradstreet creates a work of art that has many similarities to the previously discussed poem. Though this poem is more in depth and offers much more insight than "To My Dear and Loving Husband," the theme is portrayed, again, with the distinction of putting together two lines that do not end in rhyme. This poem describes the tragedy of Anne's house burning down, and her reaction, a discretely happy reaction. Throughout the entire poem, there is a description of something or someone who she labels as "Him" and "He." It is for the reader to figure out that this character is God, or perhaps this character is vanity. Only once does Bradstreet refer to "Him" as God. She specifically wrote "my God," perhaps questioning the validity of her religion. She explains, most clearly, the theme of this poem by creating two lines that do not rhyme. The two lines that do not rhyme read as follows .
"In silence ever though shall lie,.
Adieu, Adieu, all's vanity." (Bradstreet 102).
This entire poem is written to describe the horrors that vanity creates, and it is captured in these two lines. All is vanity that burned down, and she was happy to see it go. Another similarity between these two poems is the way that the theme was written.
