...Deformed “The Author to Her Book”, by Anne Bradstreet, is Bradstreet’s reaction to her work, “The Tenth Muse”, being poorly published without her knowledge or consent. To achieve her goal of appealing to a wide audience and alerting them of her pain and frustration, Bradstreet chooses to use the metaphor of mothering a physically-deformed child: a versatile topic that allows her to express her emotions. The first stanza of “The Author to Her Book” is about the first half of childhood, which is a serves as a representation of the smaller changes Bradstreet tried to make to her piece. The saying “little children, little problems; big children, big problems” can be applied directly to the stanzas. In the opening line, Bradstreet compares “The...
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
...Biography of Anne Bradstreet Anne Bradstreet was born in Northampton, England, in the year 1612, daughter of Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke; Dudley, who had been a leader of volunteer soldiers in the English Reformation and Elizabethan Settlement, was then a steward to the Earl of Lincoln; Dorothy was a gentlewoman of noble heritage and she was also well educated. At the age of 16, Anne was married to Simon Bradstreet, a 25 year old assistant in the Massachusetts Bay Company and the son of a Puritan minister, who had been in the care of the Dudleys since the death of his father. Anne and her family emigrated to America in 1630 on the Arabella, one of the first ships to bring Puritans to New England in hopes of setting up plantation colonies. The journey was difficult; many perished during the three month journey, unable to cope with the harsh climate and poor living conditions, as sea squalls rocked the vessel, and scurvy brought on by malnutrition claimed their lives. Anne, who was a well educated girl, tutored in history, several languages and literature, was ill prepared for such rigorous travel, and would find the journey very difficult. Their trials and tribulations did not end upon their arrival, though, and many of those who had survived the journey, either died shortly thereafter, or elected to return to England, deciding they had suffered through enough. Thomas Dudley and his friend John Winthrop made up the Boston settlement's government; Winthrop was...
Words: 918 - Pages: 4
...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...
Words: 1146 - Pages: 5
