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Imagery In Anne Bradstreet's The Author To Her Book

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One point or another in a person’s life, he or she wonders what it would be like if an inanimate object was alive. Anne Bradstreet does just this in her poem The Author to Her Book. She brilliantly takes the fears and worries of publishing a book into treating it as if it was her own child and, in many respects, that is what a book is to its author. There are many elements used to give the reader the sense what the author sees the book as through metaphors, complete imagery to visualize the scene, and voice to let the reader know just how difficult it is as an author but not just an author, a female author. To emphasize, being an author is very tough, being a female author can be even tougher in an era where wealthy male writers and critics …show more content…

While its less environment visuals and psychological visuals, it still draws the reader in effortlessly to envision the what is going on through the female author’s head in this era. Number one thing that really helps is with visualizing just the situation is the second to last line of the poem that sets the imagery for the entire poem reading “And for thy Mother, she alas is poor, Which caus'd her thus to send thee out of door.” (Lines 23, 24). From this the reader immediately sees the situation. The author doesn’t have a lot of money and while the reader may not have the exact details, they can imagine a not quite as wealthy writer from this period. Reflecting to real life, this is a reality that was faced then and now. The author does not want to sell it because it does not reflect her best, but she must because she needs the money. Unfortunately, it also is how the public will be viewing her abilities as which for seventeenth century female authors, is way more daunting than if this were a male author. Males would still worry about their reputation but would not be judged as harshly as a female writer. There really is emphasis on a poor, less received writer of seventeenth century and once again, the idea of poor being emphasized in “Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,” (Line 5). Formulating this image of somebody poor, …show more content…

Bradstreet successfully aids readers with this with the voice she gives the Author in this poem. Revisiting all the metaphors and visuals, it’s easy to at least see that this is a motherly-like person who regrets the fact she must boot what she feels is a somewhat messy, “child” out the door. It’s a voice filled, once again, with worry, regret, a motherly figure hoping her child will find its way in the world. If one wonders why somebody would have so much worry for the flaws of their creation, it is important to note two factors. Right out the gate the reader knows this author is poor, so she needs money. This is revealed when she says, “And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,” (Line 23). Seventeenth century is not like today where poor means the government will at least help to an extent, so the person isn’t out of luck. There were efforts in the seventeenth century to help the poor but for the most part, that person was kind of out of luck. The second thing is just being an author in this time. In every respect, line 23 right here draws conclusion to the voice of this poem, especially if the reader hasn’t read it already. The other part of the voice that is given out in this piece of work is this tone caring and fear mixed together. Leading off is the fear factor which the Author has every right to be since

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