One Flesh was call'd, who had her eye
On worldly wealth and vanity;
The other Spirit, who did rear
Her thoughts unto a higher sphere.
"Sister," quoth Flesh, "what liv'st thou on
Nothing but Meditation?
Doth Contemplation feed thee so
Regardlessly to let earth go?
Can Speculation satisfy
Notion without Reality?
Dost dream of things beyond the Moon
And dost thou hope to dwell there soon?
Hast treasures there laid up in store
That all in th' world thou count'st but poor?
Art fancy-sick or turn'd a Sot
To catch at shadows which are not?
Come, come. I'll show unto thy sense,
This reference to riches in Heaven appears throughout Bradstreet’s work, including her poem “Verses upon the Burning of Our House” in which she writes “With glory richly furnished/Stands permanent, though this be fled.”  These two lines describe the everlasting richness of God’s house in contrast with the finiteness of Bradstreet’s (or the speaker’s) own “mortal” house.  In both poems, she represents the Puritan’s ideals of piety on earth and riches in Heaven.  Those of earth are not everlasting, hence “all in th' world thou count'st but poor?”  Compared to the riches of Heaven, earthly desires are but a trifle.
Flesh and the Spirit The