ANNE Bradstreet - Resumen American Literature To 1900 PDF

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critical commentary on his life, works and excerpt....

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ANNE BRADSTREET (C. 1612-1672) GENRE: Lyric (poetry). PERIOD: Early American Literature). HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Colonial period. The formation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by Non-Separatist Puritans. Author of the first published book of poems in America, and author of the first book in American literature published by a woman. The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650): a collection of thirteen poems she had originally copied out for family circulation, taken to England by her brother-in-law to have it printed. It was widely read and recognized during her lifetime. Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning (1678): Revision of the work, with a considerable number of new pieces added to it. She wrote a poem as a preface to this second edition. It was published six years after her dead. It was equally welcomed. Bradstreet’s poetry was forgotten during the 18 th and 19th centuries. 20thcentury critics began to evaluate her verse. She has been celebrated by the poet and critic Adrienne Rich and highly praised by other recent feminist critics. Most critical approaches nowadays analyse her poems focusing on the specific historical and cultural context in which she created them. She is considered the “grandmother” of American poetry. BIOGRAPHY  Anne was born and educated in England.  She received a very good education. She was raised in luxurious surroundings, had access to private tutors and made excellent use of the Ear of Lincoln’s extensive library.  She learned Greek, Latin, Hebrew and French.  In 1628 she married Simon Bradstreet, her father’s assistant.  In 1630, she and her family immigrated to the New World, to escape religious persecution. They were non-Separatists Puritans.  They settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  For a time, Anne Bradstreet’s husband was governor of the  Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Their life in America was much harder than it had been in England.  Anne gave birth eight times and all of her children grew to adulthood.  She died at the age of sixty. CRITICS generally consider two aspects of Bradstreet:  Her public were devout and strict puritans, she was the dutiful daughter of a prominent man and she was the submissive wife of all-known colony official.  Her private self, emotionally attached to her family as a wife, mother and grandmother. She is in continuity unresolved conflicts, of tensions between her religious and her inner feelings. A self-division based on the tensions between what she thought she ought to feel (Puritan theology told her what she had to believe) and what she really felt. Her later poems show how difficult it was for her to control some of her impulses. SOURCES AND INFLUENCES: She was very much influenced by sixteenth-century poets such as:  Sir Edmund Spenser (c 1552-99)  Sir Philip Sidney (c. 1554-86)  Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1554-1618) 1

Sir Guillaume du Bartas (c. 1544-90) the French Colonist poet whom she called her ‘literary godfather’. He influenced with metaphors.  She was also inspired by her British contemporaries, the English  Metaphysical poets such as: John Donne (c.1572-1631) and George  Herbert (c. 1593-1633). PARALLELISM between Bradstreet and Sor Juana de la Cruz (1651-1695):  They share some experiences (ill, health, inner spiritual crises, a deep sense of religion combined with a genuine concern for secular problems, and the difficulties of writing in a male-dominated intellectual world.) and poetic themes (e.g. speaking about their poems as their children).  Both of them adhered to the major aesthetic conventions of their time, and wittily repudiated prejudices against women poets, Bradstreet using the convention of ironic self-deprecation and Sor Juana resorting to paradox and polemic. STYLE: Bradstreet had to abide by the principles of Puritan aesthetics. She adopted some features of the typical “plain style.” Her work was also deeply rooted in the ornamental style of the Renaissance tradition. In her early verse she tended to use elaborate conceits and strained metaphors. Puritans officially condemned figurative language (language that departs from the literal meaning of the words used), sensual imagery and other forms of verbal artifice. However, many Puritan poems reveal a high degree of literary complexity. The draw not only from the Bible but also from classical models and contemporary writers. They are full of allusions to the Scriptures and to the works of Ovid, Virgil, Cicero and Horace, and references to Spenser, Sidney, Shakespeare, Herbert and Vaughan. Critics note a wide gap between Puritan theory and practice. A major shift in the development of New England Puritanism took place around the middle of the 17th century, when eminent Puritans endorsed this movement towards verbal artistry both in oral and written forms. Figurative and symbolic language could enhance the believers’ abilities to perceive divine will. Some literary experimentation was encouraged. Rather than condemning the use of metaphors, it was suggested that some of them could help the elect to understand religious truths. Her long philosophical and religious poems were written in an artificial style and are nowadays less appealing than her short witty poems on subjects of daily life, autobiographical pieces which have warmth, intensity and poignancy. They are not derivative in content or imitative in structure, as the early ones were. They derive from her experience and constitute a more mature work, full of genuine personal utterances. In her later poems she comes near to expressing her “true” voice. Bradstreet’s language may be difficult to understand nowadays. She employed certain forms which are no longer used. Art: are Dost: second person singular present tense of do Didst: second person singular present tense of do Hast: have Thou: you (used as the subject when talking to one person) Thee: you (used as the object when talking to one person) Thy: your (used when talking to one person) Ye: you (used when talking to two or more people) She also contracted some words with apostrophes: I’th’house: in the house 

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‘mongst: amongst Lov’d: loved ‘twas: it was ‘ere: here E’er: ever ‘gin: begin In the last decades of her life, Bradstreet developed her own techniques out of the aesthetic conventions she learned in her formative years. She drew basically upon her own personal experiences, moving toward greater sincerity and independence. Although she does not feel completely free to express openly everything that comes to her mind, she seems to be willing to share some of her thoughts with readers who are perceptive enough to understand ironic discourse and to unveil meanings hidden under the words of socially constrained texts. RHETORICAL DEVICES: Use of figurative language (metaphors and conceits). She deviates from the Puritan plain style. Biblical allusions She makes rhyming couplets (pentameters and tetrameters) Makes use of irony, ambivalence and ambiguity. Biblical allusions. Poems are written in rhyming couplets (lines of iambic pentameters or tetrameters rhyming consecutively). She observes the principles of Puritan rhetoric. Self-deprecation conveying a humbleness that may be pretended. It is a very common strategy used by Renaissance writers. In this way, she avoids confrontation with what is expected from her position as a woman. “The Author to Her Book” Thou ill-formed ofspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth didst by my side remain, Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad exposed to public view, Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge, Where errors were not lessened (all may judge). At thy re turn my blushing was not small, My rambling brat (in print) should mother call. I cast thee by as one unfit for light, Thy visage was so irksome in my sight; Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could. I wash'd thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing of a spot, still made a flaw. I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet, Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet. In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save home-spun cloth, i' th' house I find. In this array, 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam. In critic's hands beware thou dost not come, And take thy way where yet thou art not known. If for thy father asked, say, thou had'st none; And for thy mother, she alas is poor, Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

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Poem written as a new preface to the second edition of her collection of verses, published posthumously, Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning (1678). It is a response to John Woodbridge’s, Bradstreet brother in law, preface to the first edition, The Tenth Muse (1650). He asserted that she had not neglected her family duties in order to write poetry, and emphasized that he was responsible for the publication of the volume, as women at the time were pressured to stay out of the public eye. Woodbridge made use of a reproductive metaphor in which he presented himself as an impatient midwife who forced the birth before its due time, provoking the mother’s pain. The publication of Bradstreet’s poems is compared with the last stage of pregnancy, uniting mental and physical processes. The birth metaphor was common among 17 th century writers. The book as offspring can be traced back to Plato and was used by male poets, e.g. Sidney, Spenser, Donne and even Guillaume du Bartas, Bradstreet’s acknowledged “literary godfather.” Bradstreet took the metaphor much further and used it in order to claim her own legitimacy as a writer. The speaker of the poem is the poet, likened to a mother whose child is her book of poems. The poet presents her book as a poor and illegitimate child, dressed in “homespun cloth” and fatherless. In order to assure readers that her writings are not intended as a challenge, she presents her book as a poor and illegitimate child, dressed in “homespun cloth” and fatherless. She humbly apologizes for the “ill-formed offspring of the feeble brain,” unwisely exhibited in public without her consent, but she acknowledges her work. In line 1 “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,” she calls attention to the fact that her book/child sprang from her mind, not het her womb, and was conceived without the intervention of any masculine force. Some aspects of the poem remain uncertain. There is no absolute certainty that she was completely ignorant of the publication of her first book. Some poets (men and women) of the period oversaw the publication of their poems while disclaiming any involvement with the process of printing, considered a “vulgar” enterprise (l. 20), less esteemed socially than a restricted circulation among family and friends. Much of the coyness and dismissal that is expressed throughout Bradstreet’s preface was a common strategy used both by male and female writers in the Renaissance. Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain how much of the self-deprecation in the conventional meekness expected from women and how much arises from the typical modesty required by 17 th-century readers of all writers, regardless of gender. The poem is written in heroic couplets (rhyming couplets). They rhyme on consecutive lines, in pairs (aa, bb, cc, dd). Each metrical line has ten syllable, making up five feet, each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Regarding form, the lines of this poem are iambic pentameters. The main features of these heroic couplets are balance and control. In this poem there is an extend metaphor. The speaker of The Author to Her Book is the poet, likened a mother whose child is her book of poems. The specific metaphor of book as offspring can be traced back to Plato. Some examples of this: - “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain” - “ My rambling brat…should mother call” A pun (paronomasia) is a play on words that has different meanings. - “ I stretch your joints, to make you even feet, “

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The effect of this pun is the duality of the child’s feet and the metrical of the lines. 3. If we scan the metre of this poem we could see that is a metric pattern known as iambic, formed by an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic is the most common pattern in English poetry. The poem is written in heroic couplets, also called rhyming couplets because rhyme on consecutives lines, in pairs (aa,bb,cc,dd). The effect of this metrical pattern is the sense of movement. 4. If we analyse the poet attitude towards her child/book we could see she regards it with kindness, tenderness and a certain indulgence toward its faults. 5. Like most artists, Bradstreet probably had mixed feelings about her book, but some of her fears were clearly determined by the fact that she was a literary woman writing in a patriarchal society. Comment on the tone of her poem, we could pay attention to the flash of anger expressed in lines 15-16. Then in line 7 she blushed and finally she was a protective mother. 6. Bradstreet wasn’t genuinely modest. She was artfully claiming artlessness. The poet, well aware with of her society’s reaction to women who ventures to write poems in a society when she has to take care of her family. She has to seem modest. 7. We could see some irony in the entire poem. Especially in lines 13 and 14. The meaning is contrary to the words. She critics and apologise of her book/child when she was really prideful. 8. She is just trying to be playful and amusing. She makes a funny apologise of her poem. And the effect is that readers who are so perceptive to understand ironic discourse then could read under the words of socially constrained text. 9. In seventeenth-century women were conditioned by social rules. They were very submissive to their husbands. They were very modest. 10. Comment on the way the poet links motherhood and artistic creativity we should pay attention to the fact that her child/book is fatherless. In the first line, she calls attention to the fact that her book/child sprang from her mind, not her womb, and was conceived without the intervention of any masculine force. This could be interpreted as a sign of independence. MAIN IDEAS:  The author/speaker of this poem compares her book to a fatherless child.  In the poem several metaphors are used: offspring, birth, brat, which compare the book with a child.  MODERN INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM: it is a poetic display of female power through well-wrought expressions of powerlessness. ANALYSIS: The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet is in extended metaphor in heroic couplets—two-line groupings in iambic pentameter with an “aa bb cc…” rhyme scheme. Iambic describes a way to write and read poetry according to stressed and unstressed syllables. An iamb is a unit of poetic meter, or a foot, consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. Several types of metric substitutions are employed in iambic poetry, but the iamb is the root, and by far the most common. Pentameter refers to the number of feet in a line of poetry—in this case, five. Bradstreet most commonly wrote in iambic meter, usually in pentameter, but sometimes in tetrameter (four feet). Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney, who both wrote in iambic pentameter, were two of Bradstreet’s chief influences. 5

Tone: Bradstreet sets the tone of self-deprecation in the very first line of the poem. The narrator refers to the book, her “offspring” (thus, a part of her) as “ill-formed” and her brain as “feeble.” She goes on to disparage the book (and herself by proxy) throughout the piece. The child (book) is dressed “in raggs” (line 2), her “rambling brat” (line 8) whose “visage (i.e., face) was so irksome in [her] sight” (line 10). While the narrator does not take direct responsibility for the book being sent off into the world (lines 46), she does lament her inability to care for it adequately (lines 17-18). Theme: At the poem’s turn, around line 11, the theme becomes clear. The narrator is ashamed of her book but cannot deny that is her own. She initially mourned the book’s being taken to the printing press without her consent, before it was ready. When it comes back, she is afforded the opportunity to give it its much-wanted polish. However, she finds that when she looks at the book, she cannot reconcile what she sees as errors. When she starts to edit her work, she seems to only make matters worse; she sees more and more wrong with the book the more time she spends with it. Metaphor and Symbolism: Ultimately, the narrator is forced to realize that her book will never be “finished” because she cares too much for it—she has put too much of herself into it. It is her child. The narrator is forced into a crisis. She has to give up her book. With foreboding and pity, she bids it farewell. She warns it against finding its way into “Criticks hands” (line 20) and apologizes for its lack (or purported lack) of a father. In the final couplet, the narrator tells her book that she, “thy Mother,” is poor. The word “poor” here refers to both the fact that the narrator needs to sell the book for financial reasons and that she considers herself to be a “poor” writer. Since she can do no better for her book, no matter how much time she is able to spend with it, it is time for her to let it go. Language: For the most part, Anne Bradstreet wrote in Modern English. Her writing is relatively easy to follow, but there is still some Middle English sprinkled in, such as the pronouns “thy” and “thou.” oets at this time sometimes employed contractions, such as “th’press” to keep a poem’s meter. To My Dear and Loving Husband” 1 If ever two were one, then surely we. 2 If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee; 3 If ever wife was happy in a man, 4 Compare with me, ye women, if you can. 5 I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold 6 Or all the riches that the East doth hold. 7 My love is such that rivers cannot quench, 8 Nor ought but love from thee give recompense . 9 Thy love is such I can no way repay. 10 The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. 11 Then while we live, in love let's so persever 12 That when we live no more, we may live ever. Bradstreet’s best-known poem about her happy marriage to Simon Bradstreet. The poet is also the speaker, who expresses her passionate love for her husband, which outlasts death. The poem focuses on her desire and longing for her husband, rather than on her duty as a wife. It provides a contrasting image with the popular view of the supposedly invariable Puritan reserve and restraint. For Puritans, conjugal love was a proof of piety, but they worried that married couples would lose sight of God. This important Puritan belief has 6

been called the “doctrine of weaned affections,” which emphasized gradual detachment from everything in this world. However, Christian doctrine defends that secular love must not be rejected because it can be linked to eternal love, blessed by God. Bradstreet develops the central idea of this poem in a clear and logical manner: she feels so loved by her husband that the only way she can reciprocate is by asking the heavens to repay him. Earthly love is the best of this world, only to be surpassed by the union of lovers in eternity. Bradstreet uses a highly allusive biblical language. The beginning of the poem calls to mind Ephesians 5, which defines the nature and duties of marriage. Saint Paul likens the love in an earthly marriage to the mystical marriage of Christ, as bridegroom, and the Church as bride. In the first part of line 1 the poet echoes the phrase “and they two shall be one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31). In the middle section of the poem, the poet shifts her biblical allusions from the Pauline epistle to the Old Testament, by echoing in line 8 the phrase “Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Solomon 8:7). METRE: RHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETERS. The lines rhyme in pairs. The poem is formed by six rhymed couplets. MAIN IDEAS:  The best restatement of “Thy love is such I can no way repay” (line 9) is “You love me so much that I am unable to reciprocate.  Married couples who love each other passionately without losing sight of God will enjoy eternal life. Literary Analysis The primary subject of this poem is love, which is a powerful and binding force t...