Essay On Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet was born in England in 1612 and was raised with an Elizabethan education combine with Puritan values—both of which are reflected in her works. She remained a devout Puritan throughout her life and came to Massachusetts on the Arabella with her husband Simon Bradstreet, who later became a prominent leader in the society of the settlements (a situation which took him often from home). A book of her poems, entitled The Tenth Muse, was published in England in 1647 without her permission—an event which inspired some of her poems and caused her to write revisions. She thus became the first English speaking poet in North America. Her poems focused on many puritan ideas such as vanity of world things and the need to submit to the

The poem demonstrates the two side of her upbringing wherein she is clearly acquainted with classical allusions and poetical devises that might have been strange to other puritans. It also reflects the conventions that she defies in trying to balance the role of women in puritan society while writing, and even publishing, poetry. This is something that is set up in almost defiance of other’s expectations.

Bradstreet herself is the speaker and reflects on her distress, asking, “Why should I once bewail thy fate?” Despite her very puritan ideas, this poem has a tone of melancholy about it that does not match the image of a God-dependent puritan. Instead, the poem focuses on a theme of the briefness of life as more of a tragedy and she is fuller of questions than submission to God’s will. God is mentioned in the poem, but only just, almost as an afterthought. The theme of the poem as well as the form possibly reflect Bradstreet’s Elizabethan education mixed with her puritan