Synopsis:
Anne Bradstreet’s The Author to Her Book is a poem that starts with the author herself bemoaning her friends who took some of her work to be published before she was satisfied with it. She describes the work as if it were her own shameful child; homely, “ill-formed,” and full of error, but is determined to fix it. Unfortunately, no matter how much she tries, nothing seems to improve the piece. Eventually, she relents and allows the work to be spread to the public, though she “warns” it to beware of critics and make excuses if its creation is questioned.
Author Biography:
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 to a Puritan family, but despite the traditional views of the society and her family’s status, her father’s work allowed her access to an education. Through this, Bradstreet is thought of as unusually achieved, as literacy would give her a creative outlet and a picture into her views at the time. Bradstreet went on to marry an educated magistrate and bear eight children, raising them in the manner of her faith. Still, she was able to make time to continue her writing, though she could not speak out about men, her place in society, or the Puritan society at large, for fear of punishment.
