Essays on Anne Bradstreet

March 20, 1612

September 16, 1672

Poet

• “Sweet words are like honey, a little may refresh, but too much gluts the stomach.”
• “Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.”
• “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

March 20, 1612 – September 16, 1672

Anne Bradstreet was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in American Literature and notable for her large corpus of poetry, as well as personal writings published posthumously.

“Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning”, “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”

The role of women is a common subject found in Bradstreet's poems. Living in a Puritan society, Bradstreet did not approve of the stereotypical idea that women were inferior to men during the 1600s. Another recurring subject in Bradstreet's work is mortality. In many of her works, she writes about her death and how it will affect her children and others in her life. Bradstreet is also known for using her poetry as a means to question her own Puritan beliefs.

Anne Bradstreet wrote in a different format than other writers of her time. This mainly is due to the fact that she wrote her feelings in a book not knowing someone would read them. Bradstreet often used a sarcastic tone in her poetry. Although Anne Bradstreet endured many hardships in her life, her poems are also usually written in a hopeful and positive tone.

Anne Bradstreet was the first woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World Poet. Her volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America received considerable favorable attention when it was first published in London in 1650. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.

“Sweet words are like honey, a little may refresh, but too much gluts the stomach.”
“Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.”
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."