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Anne Bradstreet's 'Author To Her Book'

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In her critical yet affectionate poem “Author to her Book”, Anne Bradstreet, a poet from colonial America, attempts to depict the harshness and criticism that authors receive when they publish a literary work. Bradstreet portrays the vulnerability of writers by revealing her own experience of having her writing placed under scrutiny. She is able to effectively convey her bitter feelings and perhaps allow other writers to relate to her when she compares her book to a human child as well as reflect the caring nature of mothers.

Bradstreet begins her poem by addressing to the audience that her work was the product of her “feeble brain” and states that it is “ill-formed” (1). By criticizing herself, she shows the reader that often times, writers …show more content…

For instance, there is a contrast between her view of her work as being “irksome in [her] sight” and “unfit for light” to an appreciative perception of it which shows that the book may not be perfect by her standards but out of her affection for it, she would try to mend the imperfections that it has if she was given the chance to (9,10). The change in tone of the author from critical to affectionate and concerned emphasizes a mother’s sense of duty to protect her child from the harsh judgment of other people and reiterates to the audience that because mothers bear fondness for their children, they are going to go out of their way to do things for them. Furthermore, Bradstreet is able to highlight a mother’s caring nature through the metaphors of her editing her work. For example, she states that she attempted to wash the face of her child which caused more “defects” than improvement (13, 14). Although she exerts effort in order to make her writing better by trying to revise it, she says that unfortunately, there is nothing she can do about the state her child. Bradstreet, who recognizes the imperfections of her work claims that it is “more hobbling than is [met]” which stresses that despite her maternal affections, it is still not smooth or fitting (16). Through her metaphor of revision, the poet draws attention to …show more content…

She establishes that she has tried to make her work better, but in the end, her efforts were all for naught, since nothing was enhanced. The poet believes that her book is of inferior quality compared to the works of other authors in the time period and affirms that the “home-spun cloth” is better fitting to roam among the vulgars (18, 19). She denotes that because she perceives her work to be trash like, the critics will also hold the same negative perception, if not worse, which is why Bradstreet is so concerned about her work being exposed to the public and keeping it away. Moreover, the poet seems to touch on the subject of feminism. In the last few lines where she expresses that if someone asks about the father of her child, the answer is that it does not have one and if asked for the mother, to say that she was forced to sell her own child because she was poor (22, 23). While this may seem odd, Bradstreet is trying to assert that her work is a result of her own ideas and efforts and no one else is responsible for it. In her statement, she is very confident because she wrote the poem in the seventeenth century, before notable moments in history were made by women in an effort to gain equality. Bradstreet is able to portray to the audience that although she bears a critical attitude towards her work, she acknowledges the fact that she wrote it by herself

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