Traveling to the New World in 1630 at age eighteen, poet Anne Bradstreet lived an arduous and troublesome life in the infant American colonies. After writing for many years in America and having her poems secretly published by her brother-in-law in England, Anne Bradstreet became not only the first published female American poet, but the first published American poet ever. As a Puritan, Bradstreet projected her religion, as well as her worldly observations, onto her poetry. She also explored the emotional and societal aspects of her life, often writing about sin, redemption, frailty, death, and immortality- common themes of the American Colonial era. Bradstreet fought against gender conformity and sorrow in the Puritan society of the mid 1600s …show more content…
In fact, almost all of the works that composed her first publications were poems in which Bradstreet attempted to prove her intellectual worth to her father and others who may have doubted her scholarly ability. Many critics, including Elisa New in her work Feminist Invisibility: The Examples of Anne Bradstreet and Anne Hutchinson, describe Bradstreet as being America’s first feminist (New 99). She often ignored gender biases and believed in the equality of man and woman while those around her insisted that she remain a mother and housewife rather than a poet. When her poems were first published in England as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America in 1650, Bradstreet encountered a small amount of backlash from mainly the white male population of the American Colonies, the most notable of which was John Winthrop, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop criticized Bradstreet and commented that she should remain attending to her wifely duties rather than her scholarly activities. In response to these harsh attacks on her poetry, Bradstreet refused to conform to gender standards by upholding both her domestic responsibilities and the pursuit of writing (Stanford 376). With the exception of Winthrop and a few others who denounced her work, almost all of those who read Bradstreet’s first …show more content…
Because of the number of children Bradstreet mothered and the fact that she and her family moved towns five times, Anne Bradstreet’s household duties were tremendous, yet she was still able to write poems of high caliber. Bradstreet also struggled with the concepts of the Puritan religion; rather than feeling a close connection to God in her daily life, Bradstreet often felt closer to her husband, children, and community. This struggle is also reflected in her poetry as Bradstreet often contemplates sin and redemption, death and immortality, and other such
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor wrote elaborate poems influenced by their faith and life experiences. Coming from devout Puritans living in newly settled land, both of their writings have similar elements. One shared theme gives insight to the harshness of colonial life. They both used poetry to express their sadness at the death of their children, yet both with a tone of acceptance and hope, trusting that God knows best. Taylor grieved the loss of two infant daughters. He describes them as flowers writing:
Anne Bradstreet’s inability to perfect her work before it was released frustrated her to the point where she internalizes the book’s imperfections as a reflection of herself. Bradstreet uses an extended metaphor of a mother and a child to compare the relationship between herself as the author and her book. Rather than investing her spirit in God, she repeatedly focuses on trying to improve the quality of her writing with no success, “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Bradstreet 13). Like a mother protecting her child, Bradstreet’s attempts to prevent critics from negatively analyzing her work of art (20). Her continuous obsession about people’s opinions consumed in the Earthly world and essentially distracted her from developing a spiritual relationship with God. Bradstreet was enveloped by her dissatisfaction with her to the point of ridiculing herself, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble mind” (1). It was obvious that her mind and spiritual
Anne Hutchinson was a remarkable colonial woman who first came to Massachusetts in the fall of 1634. She is less remembered for her contributions in the new world as a wife, mother of fourteen, and midwife to many than for her eventual trial and banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I was interested in writing a paper on a colonial woman and chose Anne Hutchinson after a "Google" search turned up a very good review on a recent book about her life. I have been intrigued by the fact that the Puritans came to America to practice their religion freely, yet allowed no freedom to question their doctrine. The book, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans, is an excellent examination of this lack of religious freedom and the life of a woman that intersects it.
Bradstreet was a Puritan and was therefore raised with a simplistic view of the world. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, carried over into her way of writing. Her writing style was not eloquent but plain, humble, and pleasant to read. Her poems dealt with topics such as faith, family, and adversity and were easy to understand. Bradstreet had great faith which she gained through the experiences she encountered in life.
Although Anne Bradstreet appeared to be the ideal Puritanical housewife, she faced many hardships throughout her lifetime. She faced death often, either due to disease or childbirth. These hardships led Bradstreet
The components of marriage, family and loss has played a big role in Anne Bradstreet’s writing of “Before the birth of One of Her Children”, “In Memory of Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet”, and Edward Taylor’s “Upon Wedlock and the Death of Children.” In, these writings both authors Puritan culture and their faith plays a big role. In these poems one author starts questioning their God and the other to take honor in their God throughout their grieving process, while both showing different aspects of their everlasting union with their spouse, and the love for their children.
Anne Bradstreet loves her children so much because she raised them all with pain and care. Bradstreet often talks about her children loving people, and people loving them, “And with her mate flew out of sight” (14) and out of her reach so she can not watch over them. Bradstreet’s strong Puritan heritage gives her unquestionable belief that God is watching over her children for her, and her children are watching for God. With this relationship between her and God, Anne Bradstreet accepts the departure of her children. In this poem Anne Bradstreet talks about success, “Coupled with mate loving and true” (23) this is Bradstreet’s idea of success for her children in this poem. Anne Bradstreet’s idea of success is so much more than just this line, in the fact that she wants her children to be educated, and live good productive Christian lives. All of these things are implied in the poem as simple as finding a mate and “flying” off.
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most recognizable poets from early American History; they were also both American Puritans, who changed the world with their poetry. We can see many similarities in their poetry when it comes to the importance of religion and also on having children and losing children. There are however differences in the audience of their poetry and their personal views on marriage. Bradstreet and Taylor both came over to America in the 17th century and settled in New England. Though Taylor came years later we can see the similarities through their poetry.
Anne Bradstreet, whom most critics consider America’s first “authentic poet”, was born and raised as a Puritan. Bradstreet married her husband Simon at the tender age of eighteen. She wrote her poems while rearing eight children and performing other domestic duties. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells of three valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Bradstreet’s poetry is fully religious. Being a pious woman, as everyone was at that time period, she wrote poems claiming high morals and religious motifs. Her writings were very popular among puritans who started colonizing America. His Puritan belief was the reason of her special attitude to her life, soul and sufferings. “She thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband” (Gonzalez, 2000).
Despite her harsh views of herself and her skills as a writer, Bradstreet continued to write for an intimate audience which typically included her husband and her family. Bradstreet wrote many poems to her beloved husband which brought on criticism by fellow Puritans. In her poetry Bradstreet professes her love for her husband in ways that caused Puritans to question if Anne put her husband before her God. You can also see in some of her works Bradstreet questioning herself. Despite her sin of loving her husband so ardently, Bradstreet was a devout Puritan woman who worshipped and thanked God for all of his
Her poetry was a way for her to once more focus on her God and his unique plan and love for her. Many of her poems reflect her struggle to accept the adversity of the Puritan colony, contrasting earthly losses with the eternal rewards of the good. She contrasts the transitory nature of earthly treasure with eternal treasures, and seems to see these trials as lessons from God. She also alludes to the role of women and to women's capabilities in her poems. She seems especially concerned to defend the presence of reason in women. Anne Bradstreet largely accepts, however, the Puritan definition of proper roles of men and women, though asking for more acceptance of women's accomplishments. She recognized, however, that life is filled with testing and that hardships bring a greater reliance on the Lord. She thanked her God for bringing her closer to Himself through her ailments. In an age filled with religious controversies and wars, Anne also faced doubt and uncertainty about Christianity. But she persevered to sure faith. One must remember that she was a Puritan, although she often doubted, questioning the power of the male hierarchy, even questioning God. Her love of nature and the physical world, as well as the spiritual, often caused creative conflict in her poetry. Though she finds great hope in the future promises of religion, she also finds great pleasures in the realities of the
Anne Bradstreet starts off her letter with a short poem that presents insight as to what to expect in “To My Dear Children” when she says “here you may find/ what was in your living mother’s mind” (Bradstreet 161). This is the first sign she gives that her letter contains not just a mere retelling of adolescent events, but an introspection of her own life. She writes this at a very turbulent point in history for a devout Puritan. She lived during the migration of Puritans to America to escape the persecution of the Catholic Church and also through the fragmentation of the Puritans into different sects when people began to question the Puritan faith.
Later in life, Bradstreet had 8 children, all of which survived their early years of childhood. Her children attempted to have grandchildren, many of which died. The deaths of her grandchildren were difficult to accept; however, she comforted herself by going back to her Puritan beliefs that they were part of God’s greater plan, and that they were like everything else: in God’s possession. When writing about all that she has lost, Bradstreet says, “It was his own, it was not mine, / Far be it that I should repine;” (Bradstreet Verses 17-18), his meaning God’s. The deaths of her grandchildren and not being able to “repine” about it to her deity sorrowed Bradstreet, inspiring her to write depressing poems, such as “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet” and “In Memory of my Dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet, who deceased June 20, 1669, being Three Years and Seven Months Old”. When Bradstreet wrote poems, they were mostly for herself, her friends, and her family. Poetry that was published seemed
Up until the early 17th century, American literature was chiefly about politics, religion, and recorded events. These writings were very dry and lacked insight into the everyday lives of the authors. To put into writing any individual spiritual reflections that strayed away from the religion of the colony could be dangerous at that time; possibly resulting in banishment from the colony or worse. Likewise, any writing that did not serve at least one of the purposes listed above was considered to be a waste of time that would be better spent praising God. Anne Bradstreet defied the rules of her time by writing about whatever she wanted including personal thoughts, reflections, emotions, and events. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.