June 8, 2012

American Literature Essay

Anne Bradstreet was a British-American poet, born in Northampton, England. She was a daughter of Thomas Dudley, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She married Simon Bradstreet when she was eighteen- years- old. Two years later, in 1630, they came to the New World. They lived in Salem, Boston, Cambridge, and Ipswich before they finally settled on a farm in North Andover, Massachusetts, in 1644. Simon Bradstreet became a judge, legislator, royal councilor, and twice a governor of the colony while Anne Bradstreet became a devoted wife and mother.
Bradstreet wrote many of her poems while rearing eight children. She was a wife and mother, but she was also the first important poet in the American colonies. Her poems were published in 1650 as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, which is generally considered the first book of original poetry written in colonial America. Through it she asserted the right of women to learning and expression of thought. Although some of Bradstreet's verse is conventional, much of it is direct and shows sensitivity to beauty. Although the young couple could anticipate a comfortable life materially, they chose to leave much of their wealth in England and move to America to serve their God. Anne’s father, Thomas Dudley, and her husband Simon were active in the governmental affairs of Massachusetts Bay Colony; both served several terms as governor of the colony. Anne's household was to be an influential one in the new land.
Many of Anne's poems were written at times of hardship or tragedy. Her poetry was a means for her to gain focus on her God and his plan and love for her. Bradstreet's most deeply felt poetry concerns the arduous life of the early settlers, and her work provides an excellent view of the difficulties she and her fellow colonists encountered. She wrote several poems in