Anne Bradstreet: Poems Lesson Plan

What does "The Author to Her Book" show about the publication of Bradstreet's poetry and her attitude towards her work?

The poem suggests that the publication of Bradstreet's poetry was not of her own volition or choosing. Some unnamed friends, who were "less wise than true," snatched the book away from her and published it before it was ready. We know from Bradstreet's biography that it was her brother-in-law who took the work for publication. The speaker discusses her work in a deprecating way, calling it "ill-formed," but the poem's maternal metaphors add nuance to the speaker's attitude. Though she is painfully aware of the book's flaws, she speaks to it as a...