ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Lines 5-6. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold. In the fifth and sixth lines, she proclaims to her husband that his love is worth far more to her than any amount of money could ever be worth.

Detailed explanation-2: -What does the speaker value more than “whole mines of gold"? The speaker values the love of her husband more than whole mines of gold.

Detailed explanation-3: -Deeply felt human love, she seems to be saying, is a kind of salvation, one so fulfilling here on earth that she hopes it is a glimpse of the hereafter where it will live forever (“That when we live no more, we may live ever.”). As Bradstreet scholar Robert D. Richardson Jr.

Detailed explanation-4: -It is so great that not even a river can “quench” it, and the only thing that can give her “recompense” is love from her husband. The word “quench” means lots of things, which makes it tough to suss out the meaning of this line. It usually means to extinguish, put out, or satisfy.

Detailed explanation-5: -In the fifth line, Bradstreet writes, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, / or all the riches that the East doth hold” (5-6). She metaphorically compares her love to mines of gold or all the riches that are in the east. She is very affectionate when she says that rivers cannot quench her thirst.…