Poems by Anne Bradstreet

Biography

• First woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World poet
• Wrote "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America..."
• Considered one of the most important early American poets 
• Did not attend school 
• Was educated by her father, a well-read man, Thomas Dudley
• Married Simon Bradstreet
• Had 8 children
• Was not initially fond of the New World
• Was a Puritan 

Poems

A Letter to her Husband, absent upon Publick employment:

• She is not vengeful against her husband
• She is madly in love with her husband
• She hopes the sun will never set, so her husband will never leave again 
• Bradstreet is very religious
• Coming to New England may bring families together
• She references the body and uses the body as an analogy for her love to her husband

In Reference to her children, 23 June 1659:

• She uses birds as an analogy for caring for her children 
• She is "holding on" to caring for her children
• She is in a transition period of some children leaving and some children still in her home
• Upper class women did not typically care for their own children
• Bradstreet had 8 children
• In summary, Bradstreet is talking about her relationship with her children 
• In these periods, you could be pregnant every year until you pass fertile age
• Once you pass childhood, you likely will survive because you have "weathered some diseases by then"
• The views of children in this period are very different than the views of children now

To My Dear and Loving Husband:

• She says her marriage is a great example of what love should look like
• It is very rare that you see spousal love in this age 
• Bradstreet says her love is priceless

The Four Ages of Man:

• She discusses the negatives of each of the four ages
• Childhood: capable of sin even at young age because of Adam's sin
• Youth: you don't respect women
• Middle age: mid-life crisis
• Old age: you have come to terms with death; have survived all ages
• They followed Galen's medical terminology and professions in this period about four humors 
• Phlem
• Cholor
• Blood 
• Bile
• The four humors must be in balance
• She attaches each of these four humors to each of the four ages

The Author to Her Book:

• Bradstreet is metapoetic (discusses her own work)
• Bradstreet talks about her own works and writing process 
• She compares her children to her written works
• She says her writing is ill-formed
• She is very hard on herself
• Bradstreet says she cannot write "highly" because it is above her class
• "Bastard" literature