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Anne bradstreet significance
What does the author of her book say about anne bradstreet
What does the author of her book say about anne bradstreet
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Writing poetry can be a deeply personal (and sometimes painful) process. If talent and luck prevails, the poet will actually produce a something that reflects the inner workings that first motivated their pen to meet paper. Through struggle and sweat a poem is born, and for better or for worse the creator is responsible for the subsequent journey that it will take throughout it’s poetic life. In it’s infancy, it might seem a miracle of creation, but like most parents the writer will work at maturing the verse and rhyme so that it can defend itself when it eventually leaves home. The world that it will one day enter is a cold and critical one, and few will understand the true meaning and depth of the poem’s soul like it’s parent does. Anne Bradstreet beautifully demonstrates the intimate relationship that exists between an artist and her work in the poem The Author to Her Book. In the poem she directly addresses the book that was published without her consent, referring to it as her child, kidnapped and exploited in a world of criticism. By exposing the her work to the world, she feels that her own inadequacies are revealed as well, thus creating an internal struggle between pride and shame. This paper will take a detailed look at the poem line by line, and draw out the deeper meanings that Bradstreet injected in regard to the book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, her illegitimate brainchild. In the first line Bradstreet refers to the book as an “ill formed offspring of [her] feeble brain.” This not only expresses her opinion of the work, but also that of her own abilities as a poet. She seems to feel no confidence, and says so upfront, as if to apologize to anyone who might have encountered her work. Although its flaws embarrass and shame her, she understands that her book is the offspring of her own "feeble brain", and the lamentable errors it displays are therefore her own. In lines two through four she shows that her ‘child’, once safely kept close to her side, suddenly “snatched” away by friends “less wise than true,” and then “exposed to public view” before it had a chance to mature in her care. It’s in Bradstreet’s strong descriptive language that she is able to express her feelings of betrayal. Though she doesn’t outright say it, she obviously felt deceived, and suffered the same exposure that the book had.
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
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.
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
Bradstreet also made it appoint to compare the sudden death of her grandchild to nature stating, “But plants new set to be eradicate, / And buds new blown to have so short a date, / Is by His hands alone that guides nature and fate”( lines 12-14). Conversely, Edward describes his loss of his child as a honor from God. Taylor states, “ Lord take’t. I thank Thee, Thou tak’st ought of mine: / It is my pledge in glory, part of me / Is now in it, Lord glorified with Thee” revealing his honor to have his child sitting with the lord (Edward lines 28-30). Both authors took their faith into great consideration when speaking of the loss of a family
In Anne Bradstreet's poem "The Author to Her Book," the controlling metaphor is the image of a baby being born and cared for. This birth imagery expresses the complex attitude of the speaker by demonstrating that the speaker's low regard for her own work and her actions are contradictory.
Another lesson Bradstreet learns from the fire is earthly pleasures are fleeting. In Stanzas 31-36, she realizes material possessions are easy to gain as well as loose.
Anne Bradstreet is seen as a true poetic writer for the seventeenth century. She exhibits a strong Puritan voice and is one of the first notable poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Bradstreet’s work symbolizes both her Puritan and feminine ideals and appeals to a wide audience of readers. American Puritan culture was basically unstable, with various inchoate formations of social, political, and religious powers competing publicly. Her thoughts are usually on the reality surrounding her or images from the Bible. Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life. Anne Bradstreet’s individualism lies in her choice of material rather than in her style.
Anne Bradstreet's poem, To My Dear and Loving Husband, shows her profound love and undying affection for her husband. For a Puritan woman who is supposed to be reserved, Bradstreet makes it her obligation to enlighten her husband of her devotion. She conveys this message through her figurative language and declarative tone by using imagery, repetition, and paradoxes.
...e from her love to the world. Perhaps, she believed that in this love of her, she became God-like and God thus punishes her. Nevertheless, the presence of God in her poems is more than clear. Perhaps, it was due to religious beliefs that she though that it was wrong to feel too strong feelings to world and she considered herself to be a sinner who deserves punishment. Today, there are few followers of Bradstreet, but she, her ideas and her thoughts about sufferings still remain in modern books.
Anne Bradstreet was not only the first English-speaking, North American poet, but she was also the first American, woman poet to have her works published. In 1650, without her knowledge, Bradstreet’s brother-in-law had many of her poems published in a collection called The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America. Although these poems did not reflect what would be her best work, they did emulate what would be the greatest influence on all of her writing. Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan life was the strongest, and the most obvious influence on her work. Whether it was her reason for writing, how she wrote, or what she wrote about, Bradstreet’s poems would reflect the influence of Puritan life and doctrine.
Anne Bradstreet is often praised as being one of the first feminist voices in colonial America which, perhaps, is misleading. Her poetry adhered to the standard themes and styles of her male contemporaries, glorifying male-dominated society and never questioning the authority of the men that controlled her life both personally and spiritually. She was content to be the property of her father, husband, and Puritan society as a whole. However, because she worked within the confines of the Puritan era's gender roles and literary techniques, Anne Bradstreet was able to shed light on the oft overlooked existence of women within the society.
In the work of Bradstreet she writes often about infant mortality, which in the modern Western mind seems depressing and antiquated. Though to the mind of a woman of that time and even to this day in many parts of the world pregnancy and childbirth is a life threatening undertaking, with many children passing in their first months of life. Bradstreet addresses the loss of two of her grandchildren in the poems In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and Half Old and On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet Who Died on 16 November, 1669, being but a Month, and One Day Old. In her poem entitled Before the Birth of One of Her Children, Bradstreet laments about the anxiety she feels and the fear she has of losing this child or her own life, it is best illustrated in the final line of the poem, “These O protect from stepdame's injury. And if cha...
At the end of the poem, Bradstreet says” If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none: And for thy Mother she alas is poor, which caus’d her thus to send thee out of door” (Bradstreet 22-24). There was no male intervention in the creation of this poem, she is the only one who created the poem. As Bradstreet mentions, she is poor, so she sold her poems because she needed the money. If she sold her poems, she knew that they were good enough that she will even receive money for them. Throughout the poem, she emphasizes in criticizing her poems and she also affirms that “[she] cast thee by as one unfit for light” (Bradstreet 9). According to Bradstreet, her poems should not be shown to people because they are not good and therefore will be judged, but still, after everything she said in the poem, she sold them for money, and she knew that she would get the money because her poems are actually great, and the only thing she wanted was people to praise her work. Bradstreet liked her poems and her way of receiving encouragement was a good method because people love her work and she is a very admirable and well-known
She describes her writing as a “rambling brat” (8) that calls her “mother” against her will. In this line, Bradstreet simultaneously insults her own work while distancing herself from it. She further elaborates on how displeased she is with her writing by describing the metaphorical child as “unfit for light” (9) and “irksome” (10) to her. In lines 11-12 however, Bradstreet’s tone softens: “Yet being mine own, at length affection would/ Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.” The last part of the second line further emphasizes the fact that Bradstreet was unable to improve her writing no matter how hard she tried, shifting the blame off of herself in her attempt to apologize. However, following the analogy of a mother and child, Bradstreet seems to show unconditional affection towards her writing, like a mother would for a child, no matter how unsightly or unruly they were. Rather than using self-deprecation to simply declare her writing a lost cause, Bradstreet shows a genuine desire to improve her writing, further illustrating her yearning to be an
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 ...