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((short description|Anglo-American poet))
((Moresources|date=March 2023))
((Essay|date=March 2023))
((For|the alleged witch|Anne Bradstreet (Salem witch trials)))
((Use dmy dates|date=April 2022))
((Infobox writer
| name = Anne Bradstreet
| embed = 
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|image=Frontispiece for An Account of Anne Bradstreet The Puritan Poetess, and Kindred Topics, edited by Colonel Luther Caldwell (Boston, 1898) (cropped).jpg
|caption=Nineteenth century depiction of Anne Bradstreet by [[Edmund H. Garrett]].  No portrait made during her lifetime exists.<ref>((Cite journal|last=Pender|first=Patricia|date=2015|title=Constructing a Canonical Colonial Poet: Abram E. Cutter's Bradstreetiana and the 1867 Works|journal=The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America|volume=109|issue=2|pages=223–246|doi=10.1086/681959|issn=0006-128X|jstor=10.1086/681959|s2cid=190658208))</ref>
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| native_name = 
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| birth_name = Anne Dudley
| birth_date = ((birth date|1612|3|8))
| birth_place = [[Northampton]], England
| death_date = ((Death date and age|1672|9|16|1612|3|20|mf=y))
| death_place = [[North Andover, Massachusetts]]
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| occupation = Poet
| language = English
| nationality = British
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| children = 8: Samuel, Dorothy, Sarah, Simon, Hannah, Mercy, Dudley, John. 
| spouse = ((marriage|[[Simon Bradstreet]]|1628))
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))

'''Anne Bradstreet''' ([[née]] '''Dudley'''; March 8, 1612&nbsp;– September 16, 1672) was the most prominent of early [[English people|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|American Literature]] and notable for her large corpus of poetry, as well as personal writings published posthumously.

Born to a wealthy Puritan family in [[Northampton]], England, Bradstreet was a well-read scholar especially affected by the works of [[Du Bartas]]. She was married at sixteen, and her parents and young family migrated at the time of the founding of [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1630.  A mother of eight children and the wife and daughter of public officials in New England, Bradstreet wrote poetry in addition to her other duties. Her early works read in the style of Du Bartas, but her later writings develop into her unique style of poetry which centers on her role as a mother, her struggles with the sufferings of life, and her Puritan faith.  Her first collection, ''[[The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America]]'', was widely read in America and England.

==Background ==
In a portrait that was painted by her later poems, Bradstreet is described as "an educated English woman, a kind, loving wife, devoted mother, Empress Consort of Massachusetts, a questing Puritan and a sensitive poet."<ref>Langlin, Rosemary M. "Anne Bradstreet: Poet in search of a Form",  American Literature vol 42 no. 1, Duke University Press (1970)</ref>

Bradstreet's first volume of poetry was ''[[The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America]]'', published in 1650. It was met with a positive reception in both the [[Old World]] and the [[New World]].<ref>De Grave, Kathleen. "Anne Bradstreet". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2006 [http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=539, accessed 29 April 2012.]</ref><ref>Nichols, Heidi, ''Anne Bradstreet'' P&R Publishing, Philipsburg, 2006 ((ISBN|978-0-87552-610-2))</ref>

===Life===
Anne was born in [[Northampton]], England in 1612, the daughter of [[Thomas Dudley]], a steward of the [[Earl of Lincoln]], and Dorothy Yorke.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.annebradstreet.com/anne_bradstreet_bio_001.htm |title=Anne Bradstreet biography |publisher=annebradstreet.com |access-date=2007-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127071603/http://www.annebradstreet.com/anne_bradstreet_bio_001.htm |archive-date=27 January 2007 |url-status=dead ))</ref> 

Due to her family's position, she grew up in cultured circumstances and was a well-educated woman for her time, being tutored in history, several languages, and literature. At the age of sixteen she married [[Simon Bradstreet]]. Both Anne's father and husband were later to serve as governors of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]. Anne and Simon, along with Anne's parents, emigrated to America aboard the ''[[Arbella]]'' as part of the [[Winthrop Fleet]] of Puritan emigrants in 1630.<ref name="VCU">Woodlief, A. (n.d.). ''[http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Bradstreet/bradbio.htm Biography of Anne Bradstreet]''. Retrieved September 1, 2006.</ref> 

She first stood on American soil on June 14, 1630, at what is now [[Pioneer Village (Salem, Massachusetts)]] with Simon, her parents, and other voyagers as part of the [[Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640)]]. Due to the illness and starvation of Gov. [[John Endecott]] and other residents of the village, their stay was very brief. Most moved immediately south along the coast to [[Charlestown, Massachusetts]], for another short stay before moving south along the [[Charles River]] to found "the City on the Hill," [[Boston, Massachusetts]].((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

The Bradstreet family soon moved again, this time to what is now [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. In 1632, Anne had her first child, Samuel, in "Newe Towne," as it was then called. Despite poor health, she had eight children and achieved a comfortable social standing. Having previously been afflicted with [[smallpox]] as a teenager in England, Anne would once again fall prey to illness as paralysis overtook her joints in later years. In the early 1640s, Simon once again pressed his wife, pregnant with her sixth child, to move for the sixth time, from [[Ipswich, Massachusetts]], to Andover Parish. North Andover is that original town founded in 1646 by the Stevens, Osgood, Johnson, Farnum, Barker, and Bradstreet families, among others. Anne and her family resided in the Old Center of what is now [[North Andover, Massachusetts]].((cn|date=March 2023)) 

Both Anne's father and her husband were instrumental in the founding of [[Harvard University]] in 1636. Two of her sons were graduates, Samuel (Class of 1653) and Simon (Class of 1660). In October 1997, the Harvard community dedicated a gate in memory of her as America's first published poet (see last paragraph below). The Bradstreet Gate is located next to Canaday Hall, the newest dormitory in [[Harvard Yard]].((cn|date=March 2023))
[[File:Anne Bradstreet Memorial N Andover Cem.jpg|thumb|Memorial marker for Anne Bradstreet in the Old North Parish Burial Ground, North Andover, Massachusetts]]

In 1650, Rev. John Woodbridge had ''The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America'' composed by "A Gentlewoman from Those Parts" published in [[London]], making Anne the first female poet ever published in both [[England]] and the [[New World]]. On July 10, 1666, their [[North Andover]] family home burned (see "Works" below) in a fire that left the Bradstreets homeless and with few personal belongings. Recent archaeological excavation may have located the site of this homestead, which had been the subject of uncertainty over the centuries.<ref>((Cite web |date=2024-03-11 |title=Finding Anne Bradstreet |url=https://historicbostons.org/events/https/wwwyoutubecom/watchvj6hldcsxpi8-s4wah-7dst6-jby9z-f6ya5-3m2bz-clp9p |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Partnership of Historic Bostons |language=en-US))</ref> By then, Anne's health was slowly failing. She suffered from [[tuberculosis]] and had to deal with the loss of cherished relatives. But her will remained strong and as a reflection of her religious devotion and knowledge of the Bible, she found peace in the firm belief that her daughter-in-law Mercy and her grandchildren were in heaven.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

Anne Bradstreet died on September 16, 1672, in [[North Andover, Massachusetts]], at the age of 60. The precise location of her grave is uncertain but many historians believe her body is in the Old Burying Ground at Academy Road and Osgood Street in North Andover. In 1676, four years after the death of Anne, Simon Bradstreet married for a second time to a lady also named Anne (Gardiner). In 1697, Simon died and was buried in Salem. This area of the [[Merrimack Valley]] is today described as "The Valley of the Poets."((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

A marker in the North Andover cemetery commemorates the 350th anniversary (2000) of the publishing of ''The Tenth Muse'' in [[London]] in 1650. That site and the Bradstreet Gate at Harvard, the memorial and pamphlets inside the Ipswich Public Library in Ipswich, MA, as well as the Bradstreet Kindergarten in North Andover may be the only places in America honoring her memory.((cn|date=March 2023)) 

As of 2015, the Bradstreet Kindergarten was torn down in North Andover. In the fall of 2018, The Anne Bradstreet Early Childhood Center was opened near Massachusetts Avenue in North Andover. Housing both preschool and kindergarten, the Anne Bradstreet ECC replaced the aged building named for her that had been on Main Street.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

== Writing ==

===Background===
Anne Bradstreet's education gave her advantages that allowed her to write with authority about politics, history, medicine, and theology. Her personal library of books was said to have numbered over 800, although many were destroyed when her home burned down. This event itself inspired a poem titled "[[wikisource:Verses Upon the Burning of our House July 10th, 1666|Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666]]". At first, she rejects the anger and grief that this worldly tragedy has caused her; she looks toward God and the assurance of heaven as consolation, saying:((Citation needed|date=November 2022))
((poemquote|
And when I could no longer look,
I blest His grace that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just.
It was his own; it was not mine.
Far be it that I should repine.
))

However, in opposition to her Puritan ways, she also shows her human side, expressing the pain this event had caused her, that is, until the poem comes to its end: 
((poemquote|
Farewell my pelf; farewell my store. 
The world no longer let me love
My hope, and treasure lies above. 
))

[[Image:Bradstreet first edition.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Title page, second (posthumous) edition of Bradstreet's poems, 1678]]

As a younger poet, Bradstreet wrote five quaternions, epic poems of four parts each (see works below) that explore the diverse yet complementary natures of their subject.<ref>Nichols, Heidi ''Anne Bradstreet'', P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg,2006  ISNBN 978-0-87552-610-2</ref> Much of Bradstreet's poetry is based on observation of the world around her, focusing heavily on domestic and religious themes, and was considered by [[Cotton Mather]] "a monument to her memory beyond the stateliest marble".<ref>Cotton Mather,''The Great Works of Christ in America'', Banner of Truth  (reprinted ) 1979</ref> Long considered primarily of historical interest, she won critical acceptance in the 20th century as a writer of enduring verse, particularly for her sequence of religious poems "Contemplations", which was written for her family and not published until the mid-19th century.<ref> [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0808679.html Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet], ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'' (2000). Retrieved September 1, 2006.</ref> 

Nearly a century later, [[Martha Wadsworth Brewster]], a notable 18th-century American poet and writer, in her principal work, ''Poems on Diverse Subjects'', was influenced and pays homage to Bradstreet's verse.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

Despite the traditional attitude toward women of the time, she clearly valued knowledge and intellect; she was a [[Freethought|free thinker]] and some consider her an early [[Feminism|feminist]]; unlike the more radical [[Anne Hutchinson]], however, Bradstreet's feminism does not reflect heterodox, [[antinomian]] views.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/15331212|title=The Wisdom of Anne Bradstreet: Eschewing Eve and Emulating Elizabeth|first=Zach|last=Hutchins|access-date=24 January 2019|via=academia.edu))</ref>  
  
((poemquote|
Her Victories in foreign Coasts resound?
Ships more invincible than Spain's, her foe
She rack't, she sack'd, she sunk his Armadoe.
Her stately Troops advanc'd to Lisbon's wall,
Don Anthony in's right for to install.
She frankly help'd Franks' (brave) distressed King,
The States united now her fame do sing.
))

In 1647, Bradstreet's brother-in-law, Rev. [[John Woodbridge]], sailed to England, carrying her manuscript of poetry. Although Anne later said that she did not know Woodbridge was going to publish her manuscript, in her self-deprecatory poem, ""The Author to Her Book"", she wrote Woodbridge a letter while he was in London, indicating her knowledge of the publication plan. Anne had little choice, however— as a woman poet, it was important for her to downplay her ambitions as an author. Otherwise, she would have faced criticism for being "unwomanly."<ref>Gordon, Charlotte. Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Story of America's First Poet. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. 240-252</ref> Anne's first work was published in London as ''The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America'' "by a Gentlewoman of those Parts".
[[File:The Tenth Muse by Anne Bradstreet.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Title page, ''The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America'', printed at [[London]], 1650]]
The purpose of the publication appears to have been an attempt by devout Puritan men (''i.e.'' Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, John Woodbridge) to show that a godly and educated woman could elevate her position as a wife and mother, without necessarily placing her in competition with men. In 1678, her self-revised [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bradstreet/1678/1678.html ''Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning''] was posthumously published in America, and included one of her most famous poems, "[[wikisource:To My Dear and Loving Husband|To My Dear and Loving Husband]]".<ref>Ellis, J. H. (1867). ''The Works of Anne Bradstreet in Prose and Verse''.</ref> This volume is owned by the Stevens Memorial Library of North Andover and resides in the [[Houghton Library]] vault at Harvard.

A quotation from Bradstreet can be found on a plaque at the Bradstreet Gate in [[Harvard Yard]]: "I came into this Country, where I found a new World and new manners at which my heart rose."<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/to_do/to_do9.html |title=The Harvard Guide: Harvard Yard Gates |access-date=2009-01-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907165258/http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/to_do/to_do9.html |archive-date=2008-09-07 ))</ref> Unfortunately the plaque seems to be based on a misinterpretation; the following sentence is "But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I submitted to it and joined to the church at Boston." This suggests her heart rose up in protest<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/bradbio.htm |title=Biography of Anne Bradstreet |access-date=2009-01-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123002950/http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/bradbio.htm |archive-date=2009-01-23 ))</ref> rather than in joy.

===Role of women===
Marriage played a large role in the lives of Puritan women. In Bradstreet's poem, "To My Dear And Loving Husband,"<ref name="annebradstreet.com">((cite web|url=http://www.annebradstreet.com/to_my_dear_and_loving_husband.htm |title=To My Dear and Loving Husband |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301023154/http://www.annebradstreet.com/to_my_dear_and_loving_husband.htm |archive-date=2012-03-01 ))</ref> she reveals that she is one with her husband. "If ever two were one, then surely we."<ref name="annebradstreet.com"/> The Puritans believed marriage to be a gift from God. In another of Bradstreet's works, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children",<ref name="ReferenceA">((cite web|url=http://www.annebradstreet.com/before_the_birth_of_one_of_her_children.htm |title=Before the Birth of One of Her Children |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912053718/http://www.annebradstreet.com/before_the_birth_of_one_of_her_children.htm |archive-date=2011-09-12 ))</ref> Bradstreet acknowledges God's gift of marriage in the lines, "And if I see not half my days that's due, what nature would, God grant to yours, and you".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Bradstreet could be referring to her husband remarrying after she dies. Another line shows that she believes that it is possible for her husband to remarry. By using the lines, "These O protect from stepdame's injury",<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Bradstreet is calling for her children to be protected from the abuse of a future stepmother. The fact that Bradstreet believes that God will grant her husband a new wife if she dies shows how much Puritan women believed in marriage.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

Throughout "Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment," Bradstreet states how she feels lost when her husband is not around and that life is always better when he is around. In Bradstreet's poems, it can be assumed she truly loved her husband and missed him when he was away from her and the family. Bradstreet does not resent her husband for leaving her with the family and with all of the household needs; she just misses him and wants him back with her.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/25317228/Women-s-History-Women-s-Role-in-Colonial-Society|title=Women's History: Women's Role in Colonial Society|website=Scribd|access-date=January 24, 2019))</ref><ref>((cite web|url=http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/HOLLY/public_html/Intro.htm |title=(Intro) |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924042500/http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/HOLLY/public_html/Intro.htm |archive-date=2012-09-24 ))</ref><ref>((cite web|url=http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/HOLLY/public_html/Women%20Chores.htm |title=Women?s Chores |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128093309/http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/HOLLY/public_html/Women%20Chores.htm |archive-date=2013-01-28 ))</ref>

Various works of Bradstreet are dedicated to her children. In works such as "Before the Birth of One of Her Children"<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and "In Reference to Her Children",<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.annebradstreet.com/in_reference_to_her_children.htm |title=In Reference to Her Children |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912052923/http://www.annebradstreet.com/in_reference_to_her_children.htm |archive-date=2011-09-12 ))</ref> Bradstreet articulated the love that she has for her children, both unborn and born. In Puritan society, children were also gifts from God, and she loved and cared for all of her children just as she loved and cared for her husband. She always believes they too are bound with her to make "one."((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

===Reception===
As writing was not considered to be an acceptable role for women at the time, Bradstreet was met with criticism. One of the most prominent figures of her time, [[John Winthrop]], criticized Ann Hopkins, wife of prominent Connecticut colony governor Edward Hopkins. He mentioned in his journal that Hopkins should have kept to being a housewife and left writing and reading for men, "whose minds are stronger." Despite heavy criticism of women during her time, Bradstreet continued to write, which led to the belief ((by whom|date=October 2022)) that she was interested in rebelling against societal norms of the time. A prominent minister of the time, [[Thomas Parker (minister)|Thomas Parker]], was also against the idea of women writing and sent a letter to his own sister saying that publishing a book was outside of the realm of what women were supposed to do. No doubt he was opposed to the writing of Bradstreet as well. These negative views were likely augmented by the fact that Puritan ideologies stated that women were vastly inferior to men.<ref>((cite journal|last1=Stanford|first1=Ann|title=Anne Bradstreet: Dogmatist and Rebel|journal=The New England Quarterly|date=September 1966|volume=39|issue=3|page=374|doi=10.2307/363962|jstor=363962))</ref>

==Literary style and themes==

===Background===

Bradstreet let her homesick imagination marshall her store of learning, for the glory of God and for the expression of an inquiring mind and sensitive, philosophical spirit.<ref>White, Elixabth Wade 'The Tenth Muse:An Appraisal of Anne Bradstreet' William & Mary Quarterly Review V111 July 1951</ref>

We see examples of this homesick imagination in her poem "Dialogue Between Old England and New" which emphasizes the relationship between the motherland and the colonies as parental; and gives assurance that the bond between the two countries will continue. It also implies that whatever happens to England will also affect America. The poem often refers to England as "mother" and America as "Daughter", which emphasizes the bond Bradstreet feels herself to her home country.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

((poemquote|
Alas, dear Mother, fairest Queen and best,
With honour, wealth, and peace happy and blest,
What ails thee hang thy head, and cross thine arms,
And sit i' the dust to sigh these sad alarms?
What deluge of new woes thus over-whelm
The glories of thy ever famous Realm?
What means this wailing tone, this mournful guise?
Ah, tell thy Daughter; she may sympathize.
))

===Intended audience===
Anne Bradstreet's works tend to be directed to members of her family and are generally intimate. For instance, in Bradstreet's "[[wikisource:To My Dear and Loving Husband|To My Dear and Loving Husband]]", the poem's intended audience is her husband, Simon Bradstreet. In "A Letter to Her Husband Absent upon Public Employment"<ref name="allpoetry.com">((cite web|url=https://allpoetry.com/A-Letter-to-Her-Husband,-Absent-upon-Public-Employment|title=A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment by Anne Bradstreet|first1=A. Letter to Her|last1=Husb|first2=Absent upon Public|last2=Employment|website=allpoetry.com|access-date=24 January 2019))</ref> Bradstreet writes a letter to her husband who is away from her working at his job. Bradstreet uses various metaphors to describe her husband. The most visible use of metaphor that Bradstreet uses is comparing her husband to the seasons. When summer is gone, winter soon arrives. Summer can be seen as a time of happiness and warmth. Winter on the other hand can be seen as being gloomy and cold. Bradstreet's husband is her Sun and when he is with her it is always summer. She is happy and warm from the love that her husband brings when he is around. When her husband leaves home for work, everything then becomes winter. It is a sad, cold time for Bradstreet and she wishes for her husband to soon return. "Return, return, sweet Sol, from Capricorn."<ref name="allpoetry.com" /> She wants her husband to know that she needs him and without him everything feels gloomy. She is not concerned with what others think. It is not intended for anyone else except her husband. Bradstreet knows that the situation is inevitable, summer can't be around always and soon winter will follow. Her husband's job is important. He can't be there always and he must go away at times. "Till nature's sad decree shall call thee hence."<ref name="allpoetry.com" /> 

Puritan women were required to attend worship services, yet they could not to speak or offer prayer. Women were also not allowed to attend town meetings or be involved in the decisions that were discussed.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp |title=Puritan Life  |access-date=2012-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125132940/http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp |archive-date=2012-01-25 ))</ref> 

Bradstreet was not responsible for her writing becoming public. Bradstreet's brother-in-law, John Woodbridge, sent her work off to be published. Bradstreet was a righteous woman and her poetry was not meant to bring attention to herself.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/anne-bradstreet|title=Anne Bradstreet|first=Poetry|last=Foundation|date=January 24, 2019|website=Poetry Foundation|access-date=January 24, 2019))</ref>

===Themes===

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. Women were expected to spend all their time cooking, cleaning, taking care of their children, and attending to their husband's every need. In her poem "In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory," Bradstreet questions this belief.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/6696156|title=Deborah's Ghost|first=Zach|last=Hutchins|access-date=24 January 2019|via=www.academia.edu))</ref>

"Now say, have women worth? or have they none?
Or had they some, but with our queen is't gone?
Nay Masculines, you have thus taxt us long,
But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong,
Let such as say our Sex is void of Reason,
Know tis a Slander now, but once was Treason."((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

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. The recurrence of this mortality theme can be viewed as autobiographical. Because her work was not intended for the public, she was referring to her own medical problems and her belief that she would die. In addition to her medical history (smallpox and partial paralysis), Bradstreet and her family dealt with a major house fire that left them homeless and devoid of all personal belongings. She hoped her children would think of her fondly and honor her memory in her poem, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children."
	"If any worth or virtue were in me,
	Let that live freshly in thy memory."((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

Bradstreet is also known for using her poetry as a means to question her own Puritan beliefs; her doubt concerning God's mercy and her struggles to continue to place her faith in him are exemplified in such poems as "Verses upon the Burning of our House" and  "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild". Her works demonstrate a conflict that many Puritans would not have felt comfortable discussing, let alone writing.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

In "The Prologue," Bradstreet demonstrates how society trivialized the accomplishments of women. The popular belief that women should be doing other things like sewing, rather than writing poetry.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

"I am obnoxious to each carping tongue
Who says my hand a needle better fits,
A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong.
For such despite they cast on female wits:
If what I do prove well, it won't advance,
They'll say it's stol'n, or else it was by chance."<ref>((cite web|last=Lewis|first=Jone|title=About Anne Bradstreet's Poetry|url=http://womenshistory.about.com/od/bradstreetanne/a/anne_bradstreet.htm|publisher=About.com|access-date=27 February 2012))((Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes ))</ref>

In "To My Dear and Loving Husband," Bradstreet confesses her undying love for Simon saying "Thy love is such I can no way repay, The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray." Her deep passions can be found again in "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment." Her overt affections for her husband help readers to understand Bradstreet's temerity.<ref>((cite web|last=Gonzalez |first=Ramon |title=Anne Bradstreet, 1612–1672 |url=http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/lit/bradstre.htm |publisher=Mark Canada |access-date=27 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215014532/http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/lit/bradstre.htm |archive-date=15 February 2012 ))</ref>

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. In her poem "A letter to my Husband" she speaks about the loss of her husband when he is gone.

"I like the earth this season morn in black, my sun is gone." Here Anne is expressing her feelings of missing her husband when he is away.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

"To my faults that well you know I have let be interred in my oblivious grave; if any worth of virtue were in me, let that live freshly in they memory". Anne expresses the feeling she has of wanting her children to remember her in a good light not in a bad light.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

===Tone===
Bradstreet often used a sarcastic tone in her poetry. In the first
stanza of "The Prologue" she claims "for my mean pen are too
superior things" referring to society's belief that she is unfit to
write about wars and the founding of cities because she is a woman. In
stanza five Bradstreet continues to display irony by stating "who says
my hand a needle better fits". This is another example of her
sarcastic voice because society during this time expected women to
perform household chores rather than write poetry.<ref>((cite web|title=Feminist Themes in the Works of Anne Bradstreet|url=http://world.intellectualprops.com/summaries/feminist-themes-in-the-works-of-anne-bradstreet/|access-date=27 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619131146/http://world.intellectualprops.com/summaries/feminist-themes-in-the-works-of-anne-bradstreet/|archive-date=19 June 2013|url-status=dead))</ref>

Although Anne Bradstreet endured many hardships in her life, her poems
are usually written in a hopeful and positive tone. Throughout her
poem In "Memory of My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet," she mentions
that even though she has lost her grandson in this world, she
will one day be reunited with him in Heaven.<ref>((cite web|last=Atwood|first=Kathryn|title=The Works of Anne Bradstreet, Review by Kathryn Atwood|url=http://www.womensindependentpress.com/wordpress/?p=834|publisher=John Harvard Library|access-date=27 February 2012))</ref> In "Upon the
Burning of Our House," Bradstreet describes her house in flames but
selflessly declares "there's wealth enough, I need no more." Although
Bradstreet lost many of her material items she kept a positive
attitude and found strength through her belief in God.<ref>((cite web|url=http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol1/issue1/bradstreet.htm|last=Howe-Pinsker|first=Rebecca|title=Confession, Exploration and Comfort In Anne Bradstreet's "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666"|publisher=Florida Gulf Coast University|access-date=27 February 2012))</ref>

===Quaternions===
Bradstreet wrote four [[Quaternion (poetry)|quaternion]]s, "Seasons," "Elements," "Humours," and "Ages," which made possible her "development as a poet in terms of technical craftsmanship as she learned to fashion the form artistically."((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

Bradstreet's first two quaternions were her most successful.<ref>Eberwein, Jane Donahue 'Early American Literature' vol 9 no 1 University of North Carolina Press Spring 1974</ref> The central tension in her work is that between delight in the world and belief of its vanity.((Citation needed|date=November 2022))

==Selected works==
((Div col|colwidth=30em))
*''[[wikisource:Before the Birth of One of Her Children|Before the Birth of One of Her Children]]''
*''[[wikisource:A Dialogue between Old England and New|A Dialogue between Old England and New]]''
*''[[wikisource:A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment|A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment]]''
*''[[wikisource:Another|Another]]''
*''[[wikisource:Another (II)|Another (II)]]''
*''[[wikisource:For Deliverance From A Fever|For Deliverance From A Fever]]''
*''Deliverance from Another Sore Fit''
*''[[Contemplations (poem)]]''
*''In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth''
*''In Reference to her Children'', 23 June 1659
*[[wikisource:The Author to Her Book|The Author to Her Book]]
*''The Flesh and the Spirit''
* ''The Four Ages of Man  '' (quaternion)
* ''Four Seasons of the Year'' (quaternion)
* ''Four Elements'' (quaternion)
* ''Of The Four Ages of Man'' (quaternion)
* ''The Four Monarchies '' (quaternion)
*''[[wikisource:The Prologue|The Prologue]]''
*''To Her Father with Some Verses''
*''[[wikisource:To My Dear and Loving Husband|To My Dear and Loving Husband]]''
*''Upon a Fit of Sickness,'' Anno 1632 Aetatis Suae, 19
*''Upon My Son Samuel His Going For England, November 6, 1657''
*''Upon Some Distemper of Body''
*''[[Verses upon the Burning of our House]]''
*''[[The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America]] (1650) and, from the Manuscripts. Meditations Divine and Morall, Letters, and [[Occasional Poems]]'', Facsimile ed., 1965, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, ((ISBN|978-0-8201-1006-6)).
*''An Exact Epitome of the Three First Monarchies'' (1650) (a.k.a. ''Exact Epitome of the Four Monarchies'')
((div col end))
*In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and Half Old

==References==
((reflist))''Homage to Mistress Bradstreet'', John Berryman, Faber and Faber, 1959

==Further reading==
* Cook, Faith, ''Anne Bradstreet Pilgrim and Poet'', EP Books, Darlington 2010 ((ISBN|978-0-85234-714-0))
* Dykeman, Therese Boos (ed.). ''American Women Philosophers, 1650-1930: Six Exemplary Thinkers''. Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter: The Edwin Meilen Press, 1993.
*[[Charlotte Gordon|Gordon, Charlotte]], ''Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet'', Little, Brown, New York 2005 ((ISBN|0-316-16904-8))
*Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, ''The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley.'' University Press of America, Washington D.C., 2009. ((ISBN|978-0761846093))  
*Nichol, Heidi, Anne Bradstreet, A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Puritan Poet, P&R Publishing, New Jersey 2006
* Williams, Katie Munday, ''Poet, Pilgraim, Rebel: The Story of Anne Bradstreet, America's First Published Poet'', Beaming Books, Minneapolis 2021 ((ISBN|978-1-5064-6887-7))

==External links==
((Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes|viaf=34473490))
((Wikisource author))
((Wikiquote))
*((Commons category-inline))
*((Internet Archive author |sname=Anne Bradstreet))
*((Librivox author |id=459))
*[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER%5CBradstreet%5Ccover.html Selected Works of Anne Bradstreet] hypertext from American Studies at the University of Virginia.
*[http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bradstreet/1678/1678.html ''Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning''] by Anne Dudley Bradstreet, Boston: Printed by John Foster, 1678, at [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ A Celebration of Women Writers]
*[http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/bradstreet.htm Full Text Links] from the William Dean Howell Society
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081208134959/http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/AF/individual_record.asp?recid=6883751&frompage=99 Genealogical Record]
*Audio: [https://web.archive.org/web/20111007002654/http://poemsoutloud.net/blog/archive/americas_first_poet_anne_bradstreet/ Robert Pinsky reads "To My Dear and Loving Husband"] by Anne Bradstreet (via [https://web.archive.org/web/20090405173256/http://poemsoutloud.net/ poemsoutloud.net])
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4616663 Audio:] [[Charlotte Gordon]] discusses the life of Anne Bradstreet.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708061310/http://quaternionpoetry.blogspot.com/ Examples of Anne Bradstreet's quaternions]
*[http://www.annebradstreet.org A site celebrating Anne Bradstreet's 400th birth anniversary]
*A trust for the Bradstreet homesite: [https://www.bradstreetphillips.org/ Bradstreet-Phillips Historic Preservation Trust]

((Metaphysical poetry))
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((DEFAULTSORT:Bradstreet, Anne))
[[Category:1612 births]]
[[Category:1672 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century American poets]]
[[Category:17th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Colonial American women]]
[[Category:British feminists]]
[[Category:British evangelicals]]
[[Category:Calvinist and Reformed poets]]
[[Category:Calvinist and Reformed writers]]
[[Category:Christian poets]]
[[Category:Colonial American poets]]
[[Category:Writers from Northampton]]
[[Category:English evangelicals]]
[[Category:English women poets]]
[[Category:Feminism and history]]
[[Category:English feminist writers]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:American women poets]]
[[Category:American Puritans]]
[[Category:Writers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
[[Category:People from colonial Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Burials in Massachusetts]]

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