"[Poem:] <br /> <br />'To my Dear and Loving Husband' <br /> <br />If ever two were one, then surely we. <br />If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee. <br />If ever wife was happy in a man, <br />Compare with me, ye women, if you can. <br /> <br />I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold <br />Or all the riches that the East doth hold. <br />My love is such that Rivers cannot quench, <br />Nor ought but love from thee give recompense. <br /> <br />Thy love is such I can no way repay. <br />The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. <br />Then while we live, in love let's so persevere <br />That when we live no more, we may live ever. <br /> <br />"

Author: Anne Bradstreet

Notes: (1612 - 1672) the most prominent of the early English poets of North America and the first female writer in the British North American colonies to be published. She was also a prominent Puritan figure in American Literature.