Anne Bradstreet's American Voice
Anne Bradstreet: the first American to have her poems published. Throughout her works, she captured what it was like to be a pioneer in a new land. Thanks to her family’s high stature and disposition in life, Anne Bradstreet was given an education: something that was not very common for women in the 1600's. Her poems enable her to speak freely and express the world through a women's eye. In doing so she laid down the foundation to what it truly means to be American.
Anne Bradstreet was born into a very privileged life, she was the daughter of a wealthy man who believed that she should receive an education. She married at age sixteen, and in 1630 she embarks to America on a perilous journey to "escape the
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religious persecution of King Charles the I" (Mlinko, Bradstreet, Anne) because she was a Puritan. Bradstreet was a kind women and "was highly esteemed in the community, gracious, and utterly devoted to her family" (Anne Bradstreet, 1). Her religion was a driving force in her life, she based everything she did to please God. Once in America she began to write about everything- her children, her husband, the new land, and anything else she wanted to write about. She drew inspiration for her works from her family, "she was a devoted wife and mother of eight children" (Anne Dudley Bradstreet, 1) whom she loved and nurtured for until she died from an illness that hindered her for many years until succumbing to it on September 16, 1672. However she would be anonymous to the world if it weren't for her brother-in-law, who stole her poems and published them into a saga without her knowledge, therefor giving Bradstreet the title of the first American Poet. In her poems she focused around three main topics- religion, her husband, and her children.
Her children greatly shaped her life; she gave birth to eight children and loved them deeply. In, "In Reference to My Children", she writes about neutering her children: “great was my pain when I you bread, great was my care when you I feed" (Bradstreet 55). She recorded her struggles about being a mother in troubling times. In her poem, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" she records the last moments before giving birth: "and when thy loss shall be with gains, look to my little babes, my dear remains."(Bradstreet 21), she writes this thinking it would be her last thinking that childbirth would kill her, proving that her love for her children is greater than any other love she has, and that she would die for them. Her husband also is a theme in her poems, she writes about her bond with him and that "if ever two were one, then surely we" (Bradstreet 1) in "To My Dear Loving Husband". Bradstreet Is constantly writing about her husband and her love for him when he is far telling the reader that she is close with her husband and that she loves him deeply. Not only does her poems reflect her husband but also the roll that women had in the 1600's. In "A Love Letter to Her Husband" she tells him to "post with double speed, mark what I say, by all our loves contour him not to stray" (Bradstreet 39). One of her most prominent themes would be her devotion to her religion and God. She …show more content…
basses her entire life around her God and staying faithful to him. In "Upon my Deer and Loving Husband his Going into England Jan. 6, 1661" she is calling to God to bring safe passage to her husband, asking him to "Uphold my heart in thee, o God" (Bradstreet 16) . Bradstreet did everything to please God, she lived her life as a servant for him. "Now full of glory then must thy creator be! Who gave this bright light lustre unto thee"(Bradstreet 47), she states in her poem "Contemplations" that God created this world for a reason. One of her poems talks about her house burning down and her gazing upon the rubble, but instead of being mad she is acceptance towards the situation and show a temperance towards god. She describes that God is the creator of all things and that everything that happens, good or bad, happens for a reason. Anne Bradstreet portrays her writing by relating her stories to either nature or religion and she also uses many metaphors in her works.
Her style of writing is common for this time period however it was uncommon for a woman to be doing the writing. In one of her poems, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June, 1659" she portrays her children as birds relating it back to nature. The nature aspect adds a tranquil feeling to her poems. She describes her children's lives as if they were birds and goes on to close the poem by saying "farewell my birds, farewell adieu"(Bradstreet 92). She uses nature in this poem to make her children seem simple and calm. She writes about religion is in almost every one of her works, but it is most clear in "A Dialogue Between Old England and New" where she lists out the difference between the two lands. She writes "Before I tell the effect I'll show my cause, which are my sins-- the breach of sacred laws"(Bradstreet 90). In this line she is referring to the old England and their secular ways, she feels that by taking place in the ways of the old England that she has committed many sins. She came to America to correct her ways and to spread her religion. This poem tells the good and the bad of both lands. She pays homage to the problems with England and tells of her hopes for the future of America. She was also a realist, she told life to way it was. In "Upon a Fit of Sickness , Anno 1632 Aetatis Suae" she is very placid about the fact that she
is sick, in fact she says "that all men must die, and so must I" (Bradstreet 5). She is very accepting that this poem might be her last and writes about her impending death not as the end, but as a victory. She recalls her life and is pleased with it and all the things that she has accomplished. In all of her poems she does not dull it down, but rather she tells about the truths in living in such a wild world. In the 1600's it was uncommon for women to become successful writers, however this did not stop Anne Bradstreet from becoming a very influential writer. She is still acclaimed for her writings and her life today still rings true to many people. Since she was a Puritan she sailed to America to escape from the persecution in her own country. Still to this day people from all around the world look to America knowing that they will be able to escape the violence and receive get the same freedom that Bradstreet got when she came to the new world. Being a female writer in the 1600's meant that there would be critics who opposed her, however she was bold and continued to write. It was not uncommon, in those times, for women to be punished for speaking out about their inequalities nevertheless “Bradstreet's own boldness in writing was the product of that same sense of liberation, at the edge of the vast American wilderness" (Bradstreet, Anne (1612-1672), 4) We have come a long way from the 1600's for women's, however women today are still fighting to receive the same rights and freedoms that men have. Bradstreet knew the consequences of writing her beliefs but she saw something in America; a chance to create a new life with new opportunities. Anne Bradstreet paved the way for American poets. She used her skill and knowledge to write poems that shined a light on her life. Her poems challenged the social norms and created a revolution in female writing. America to her was not only a country, but it was a place where she could make a difference and create new opportunities; becoming the first voice for a country that still to this day stands for freedom and liberation.
...factor for her to move one more time into Dutch territory. After her move in the summer of 1643, Anne and her family were killed by Indians. She was survived by six of her children and over 30 grandchildren. Descendants of these survivors include: Anne's great-great grandson Thomas Hutchinson who became a Governor of Massachusetts, her sixth great grandson Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and her ninth great grandson George H.W. Bush and his son George W. who although he did not win the presidential election in 2000, now holds the highest office in the country. (p.243). LaPlante also includes a tour one could follow to see Anne Hutchinson sites in Boston, Rhode Island and New York. On my next trip back east I will bring this book and see these sights. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in women of importance in our American history.
Even having five sons to take care of and having a very powerful husband Mercy Otis Warren still found quiet time to read and even write some poetry herself. "For thou are more than life, and if our fate should set life and my love at strife, how could I then forget I love thee more than life.
She writes a letter to husband, almost instructing him on what to do after her death. Unlike other demure housewives of her time, she acknowledges the risk birthing her child brings by saying, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains / Look to my little babes, my dear remains” (107). Bradstreet also approaches a taboo subject by acknowledging that her husband might remarry. Bradstreet does not tread lightly on this subject either by writing, “And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me, / These o protect from step Dames injury” (107). In this poem, Bradstreet faces the possibility of not only the loss of her life but the loss of her husband’s love. Bradstreet challenges Puritan beliefs by showing that she will still be concerned with her earthly life after her
Ironically, Bradstreet describes life after her death in her poem “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” and states that husband to look for her love by looking at her children stating, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains, / Look to my little babies, my dear remains” (Before the Birth of One of Her Children lines 21-22). She also speaks of her husband’s next wife by stating, “These O protect from stepdame’s injury”, hoping that their step mother does not hurt her children (Before the Birth of One of Her Children line 24). Taylor shows more about planting his seeds in his wife approach when speaking about his children. He writes “One knot gave one tother the tother’s place. / Whence Chuckling smiles fought in each other’s face”, he’s describing the joy of watching his children playing with each other
She questions “why should I be my aunt / or me, or anyone?” (75-76), perhaps highlighting the notion that women were not as likely to be seen as an induvial at this time in history. Additionally, she questions, almost rhetorically so, if “those awful hanging breasts -- / held us all together / or made us all just one?” (81-83). This conveys the questions of what it means to be a woman: are we simply similar because of “awful hanging breasts” as the speaker of the poem questions, or are we held together by something else, and what is society’s perception on this? It is also interesting to note Bishop’s use of parenthesis around the line “I could read” (15). It may function as an aside for the reader to realize that the six year old girl can in fact read, but also might function as a wink to the misconstrued notion throughout history that women were less educated and didn’t
A devoted mother, Anne Bradstreet is concerned with her children as she watches them grow up. “Or lest by Lime-twigs they be foil'd, or by some greedy hawks be spoil'd” Anne Bradstreet uses to describe her fear for her children. Not wanting to see her children suffer, Anne Bradstreet turns to God to help her children. Bradstreet imagines her bird’s being stuck on a branch and a hawk eating them, a grim image of all of her sacrifice being lost in a single moment. “No cost nor labour did I spare” describes how much Anne loves her children.
God; whereas Taylor wrote solely on his love for God. Bradstreet was a pioneer in the idea of writing about loving your husband and self. This was one of her greatest achievements and also greatest gifts to the world, even though it was not appropriate to write about such subjects she did anyway. The combination of Bradstreet and Taylors poetry about love prove to the world that love can exist in any part of life and should be appreciated and
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 to Thomas and Dorothy Dudley in Northampton, England. Her father and a young man named Simon Bradstreet were chosen by the Earl of Lincoln as stewards to manage the Earl’s affairs. Anne, unlike many women of her time, was well educated and it is presumed that she had access to the Earl’s vast library during this time. The Earl’s residence was known for its romantic background and this proved true in 1628 when Anne and Simon married. She was only sixteen to his twenty-five years but they were known to have a happy marriage as evidenced in “To my Dear and Loving Husband” where Bradstreet laments, “If ever two were one, than surely we” (125). In 1630, the Dudley’s and the Bradstreet’s, along with other Puritans, sailed aboard the Arabella to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony. These families journeyed to America as many Puritan settlers had before them, in the hopes of religious freedoms unattainable in England. In the colonies, Anne’s husband was frequently absent. Bradstreet still found time to write her poetry while raising her 8 children and carrying on the strenuous duties of colonial life.
Do many people know who Anne Spencer is? Probably not. Anne Spencer was a Harlem Renaissance poet who actually lived in Lynchburg, Virginia. She immensely enjoyed working in her garden and spending time in Edankraal, a small cottage in her garden where she wrote most of her poetry. Though Anne was a hard worker, she definitely was not a typical woman of the early 20th century. Anne and her husband, Edward, did many things that were not typical during the early 20th century, but these "atypical" characteristics made the couple very unique.
Anne Bradstreet was the first American poetess of British origin. She was the first female writer whose poems were published in newly colonized America. Her father, Thomas Dudley, in England worked as steward of Earl of Lincoln. In 1628 Anne married Simon Bradstreet. In 1630 both families moved to America on the ship "Arabella". Voyage lasted for three months. In the New World, her father became governor of Massachusetts Colony, and was subsequently replaced by the husband of Anne.
When Bradstreet’s next grandchild, Anne, passed away, she was unable to resist it. She lost her control and become disappointed. She wrote a poem under “In Memory of My dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet, Who Deceased June 20, 1669.”5 The poem starts with the speaker
She admits that she suffers through internal conflicts regarding her religious beliefs multiple times in “To My Dear Children”, even explicitly stating “I have argued thus with myself” (Bradstreet 164). Her struggle with what to believe was so great that she nearly abandons her original goal of writing to her children. This letter starts off addressing her children directly, but after the first paragraph she does not write in second person, with one exception, until the conclusion. Bradstreet instead writes the entire middle section about the issues she faced in her lifetime regarding her religion and how she overcame these problems. This gives great perspective into the mindset of all of her neighbors in Massachusetts as well. The “city upon a hill” (Winthrop 149) that John Winthrop told the Puritans they could create was not a perfect utopia even though they were finally free from the oppression of the Catholic Church. Doubts about whether God was truly on their side ensued as the Puritans discovered how laborious it was to live on the land and away from the luxury they were accustomed to in Europe. They began to question their own beliefs, just as Anne Bradstreet did. She presents these doubts in her letter and provides an understanding as to how this was not the perfect society it was meant to be. She also defends all of her doubts with
Five years later her father retired from his job to take care of all of the children and happened upon Lazarus’ poetry notebooks. After reading them and taking a great liking to them, he carried the poems off without Lazarus’ consent and had them published for private circulation. When Lazarus was informed, her poems had already received much praise so, adding t...
By reading Bradstreet’s work, a fair sense of what Mrs. Bradstreet was like can be grasped. She clearly stated her opinion of those who objected to her writing: “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue, / Who says my hand a needle better fits.” (Bradstreet,“ The Prologue”155). Bradstreet refused to give up her passion for writing even if it meant going against the opinions of anyone in her colony, including religious leaders. Although Bradstreet referred to herself as being obnoxious, her written works portray an entirely different Bradstreet. She seeks no reward or fame for her writing: “Give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays” (155). Bradstreet seeks no reward for her writing because she doesn’t think her work is very good: “My foolish, broken, blemished Muse so sings” (154). She refers to her writing as her: “ill-formed offspring” (“The Author To Her Book”165). Even after her work is published she is ...
According to BellaOnline, Bradstreet was, “married to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and had eight children.” Even though her marriage might have become filled with routines and lost a little passion, the poet never lost the love for her husband. She states that the power of her “.love is such that rivers cannot quench”(Bradstreet, 7). Bradstreet expresses her emotions to be so strong that not even a roaring river can possibly satisfy them. She prizes her husband’s “.love more than whole mines of gold/ Or all the riches that the East doth hold,” (Bradstreet, 5-6) meaning she values his affection more than any amount of money she could obtain.