Question

The seeming contradiction in Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband," seen when the speaker says, "If ever two were one, then surely we" is an example of what literary device?

The Scarlet Letter
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Answer 1

Anne Bradstreet wasone of the first American published poets. Her poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" came out in the second edition of The Tenth Muse publication, published in 1678.

This poem, along with her many other, was dedicated to her husband, and although it is two lines short of being considered a sonnet, it greatly resembles one.

The first line "If ever two were one, then surely we" employs literery device called alliteration, or repeating of consonant sounds in the beginning of words to help create rythm and tone of the poem, in this case were and we. If we look at the first three lines, than we can see the usage of anaphora, or the repetition of words at the beginning of consecutive lines - "If ever".