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The Author To Her Book Summary by Anne Bradstreet
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Mar 21, 2025
The Author To Her Book Summary by Anne Bradstreet
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the poem the author to her book starts
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with Anne Bradstreet addressing her book
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of poems as if it were her child she
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expresses embarrassment over its
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premature publication comparing it to an
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ill-formed offspring sent into the world
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before it was ready in this initial
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scene the speaker's tone is one of
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frustration as she feels her work was
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exposed without her permission leaving
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her vulnerable to criticism in the
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second scene Brad street reflects on her
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attempts to revise and improve the poems
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after their public
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she describes this process as a kind of
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maternal care where she tries to mend
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the flaws in her child the intimate
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setting of her writing desk becomes a
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metaphor for the nurturing yet imperfect
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relationship between a mother and her
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creation as the poem progresses the
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speaker shifts to the public reception
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of the book she fears that despite her
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best efforts to polish and correct the
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text the imperfections Remain the
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setting now moves to the broader world
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of readers and critics where the book is
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subjected to scrutiny the speaker is
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filled with anxiety about how her work
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will be judged in the final scene Brad
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street accepts that her child must face
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the world as it is Flaws and All She
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recognizes that her work once released
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is beyond her control the poem ends on a
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note of resignation as she sends her
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book off into the world knowing it
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carries her Mark but will live its own
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life
#Books & Literature
#Poetry