anne bradstreet

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Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612-1672)

BACKGROUND
  • Born in England into a Puritan family
  • Tutored--early influences being works of Shakespeare and the Bible
  • Arrived with her husband (who later became governor of) Massachusetts Bay Colony with her husband in 1630
  • Raised four boys and four girls

    •  

CAREER
  • The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America--By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts, a book of her poems published in 1650



WORKS
 

"Upon the Burning of Our House"

"To My Dear and Loving Husband"

"In Reference to Her Children, 23 June, 1659

"Upon a Fit of Sickness"



QUOTE
  • "Thou hast a house on high erect

Framed by a mighty Architect."

 

SIGNIFICANCE

  • America's first poet
  • Gives us a glimpse of Puritan's womens life and faith


Frontispiece to the 1650 edition of The Tenth Muse.

GOOD TO KNOW

♦  Bradstreet's title for her collection of poems, The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America, is a playful reference to the nine Muses of ancient Greek mythology. The Muses, nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each presided over a different art or science.  So Bradstreet is wittily suggesting that she is a Tenth Muse.

Today, we use the term to describe a source of inspiration or thought in the arts and sciences.  The word "music" is another term derived from Muse. 

What inspires you? Or what's your muse?


Images source: USInfo. "Women of Influence: Anne Dudley Bradstreet."  Webpage. Nov. 2006.
USInfo. U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. 15 Jul. 2007 <http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/bradstreet.htm>.
Last Revised 11 May2012. 1997-2012 © Charles Youngs. All Rights Reserved Unless Otherwise Noted or Creative Commons License Provided.  This website is a resource provided independently by Charles Youngs and is not endorsed by or representative of any institution..