engl_201_the_colonial_period_essay_.docx.pdf.pdf

October 10th, 2022

ENGL 201

Christopher Robinson

During the Colonial Period, the world lacked respect for female writers, that was until

Anne Bradstreet. Anne played a valuable role in the colonial period as a poet. She was open in

her writing about her struggles and weaknesses. Anne wrote vulnerably and authentically of love

for her family. She was a woman, mother, and wife and later on was known as the world’s first

female New World poet.

was until her brother-in-law would publish her work without her consent in the year 1650. Her

work was then published with the now well-known title “The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up In

America.” Much of Anne’s work was published later after her she passed. Including her most

famous work, Contemplations, which was published in the 19th century. The Tenth Muse would

be the only poem of Anne Bradstreet to be published while she lived.

Anne Bradstreet's ability to be personable and open is what drew many people to enjoy

her work. In the article, Anne Bradstreet's biography, by Ann Woodlief states, “Although a few

other American women were to published poetry for the next 200 years, her poetry was generally

ignored until ‘rediscovered’ by feminists in the 20th century. These critics have found many

is worth more than gold. She is forever his, and her writing does a fantastic job proving it to the

reader; however, this poem showed her intense love for her husband, which could have come

across poorly in Puritan Theology since putting your marriage above God was greatly

dishonorable. Anne’s writing is personal; she had no intention of it being released to the public,

which makes her vulnerability even more stunning. Authors Belasco and Johnson discuss this,

“Bradstreet had no idea publishing her poems, which were written for her enjoyment and

circulated only among her admiring family and friends” (Belasco pp. 185).

Anne Bradstreet's A Weary Pilgrim is a poem that is interpreted in many ways. Some

interpret it as a loved one who has passed and longing to be with them again. Some believe she

wrote it to show her emotional struggle. Throughout the poem, she describes the pain and

describe the hardships, challenges, and joys of living as a woman in the 17th century. Anne was

named a New World poet because her writing was powerful and relatable, which moved readers.

She had no intentions of sharing her work, yet men and women are inspired by it. “The shorter

poems benefit from their lack of imitation and didacticism” (Britannica 2022). They read the

poems about her love for her husband and family and felt joy. They read the result of her

hardships and related to the difficulties of living a life longing for Heaven. Anne Bradstreet was a

beautiful writer, and the beauty of her writing continues to be seen centuries later.

References

Woodlief, Ann. Biography of Anne Bradstreet,