The Author to Her Book by Anne Bradstreet Poem Analysis Essay Example

In her poem, "The Author to her Book," Anne Bradstreet conveys her conflicting emotions towards her book by comparing it to a problematic child, expressing many emotions stereotypical of motherhood – embarrassment at any mistakes or unrefinement layered with a deep-rooted love and desire for her creation to succeed.

In the beginning of the poem, Bradstreet displays her disgust for the book as an "ill-formed offspring," who was "snatched … by friends" and published for all to see, and "at thy return my blushing was not small." In this, she utilizes apostrophe in the context of the controlling metaphor, for she is speaking directly to her "rambling brat (in print)" as if it were a sentient child, when it is in fact a book and cannot respond. By directly addressing her creation, Bradstreet establishes the sort of familiarity a mother would have with her child as opposed to the feelings that one might ordinarily have towards an inanimate object, even if her feelings towards her work are those of embarrassment instead of pride.

Bradstreet wishes to "thy blemishes amend, if I so could," because "thy visage was so irksome in my sight," but she knows that even with more time, perfection is nearly impossible to achieve. No matter what she does, her book remained flawed – she "washed thy face, but more defects I saw, / and rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw." She "stretched thy joints to make thee even feet," attempting to improve the metrical feet of the poem, "yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet," and she is unable to make it how she would like. Though "in better dress to trim thee was my mind," she finds "nought save the homespun cloth," as she is unable to give her work anything more than the skills she has.

In line 19, Bradstreet’s tone shifts from the disgust and embarrassment displayed previously to resigned acceptance, as it is time for her creation to go into the world and live "‘mongst vulgars" if that is where it will achieve the greatest success. She accepts the shortcomings of her work, for no matter her feelings, it is out there for the world to see. Now, she just wants her book to do as well as it can, even if it means distancing itself from her, just as often a child must somewhat distance themself from their parents in order to truly thrive, no matter the parents’ feelings on the matter. She cautions her book to stay out of "critics’ hands" as if she were telling a child to stay out of danger, and tells it to "take thy way where yet thou are not known" and, if asked about its parents, "say thou had’st none; / and for thy Mother, she alas is poor."

Additionally, Bradstreet’s illustration of her relationship with her work serves as a commentary on the creative process; it is extraordinarily rare that a creator will ever view their work as perfect, and they must come to accept the flaws and even find beauty in the imperfections.