The Author to Her Book

The Author to Her Book

By Anne Bradstreet

Thou ill-form’d offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, expos’d to publick view,
Made thee in raggs, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judg).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Thy Visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I wash’d thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joynts to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobling then is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save home-spun Cloth, i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ’mongst Vulgars mayst thou roam.
In Criticks hands, beware thou dost not come;
And take thy way where yet thou art not known,
If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none:
And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Which caus’d her thus to send thee out of door.

Summary of The Author to Her Book

  • Popularity of “The Author to Her Book”: Written by the top Puritan soul and a great poet of the 17th century, Anne Bradstreet, this beautiful poem “The Author to Her Book” presents her ruminations about her upcoming poetic collection. Interestingly, that poetic collection appeared in the United States in the middle of the 17th Titled as The Tenth Muse, this collection is stated to have appeared without her knowledge. The poem celebrates the thoughts of the author about her book, which she calls an “ill-formed” child. The popularity of the poem lies in the universal ideas about the writers, books, and critics Bradstreet highlighted back in the 17th century.
  • “The Author to Her Book” As a Representative of Writing Advice: Presented as an extended metaphor, Bradstreet presents a speaker writer who thinks about her book as a spoiled or deformed child who has come into the world through a premature birth as she was not ready to get it published. Yet, some unscrupulous friends published it beforehand. When it reached her, she could not brook mistakes, irregularity of feet, notes, and linguistic errors. Although she argues, she tried her best to remove these blemishes. The book stayed the same.
    The more she rubbed it, the more it became spotted, and finally, she advised it like her own child that it should not fall into the hands of the critics. She further advised that in case the book is in the hands of such criticism, she must assert herself about her being an orphan and having a poor mother, the reason for its mistakes. In other words, the author wants to state it is all her mistake not to have done proofreading.
  • Major Themes in “The Author to Her Book”: Poetry, book printing, and unsatisfied creative power are three major thematic strands of the poem “The Author to Her Book.” As Bradstreet is herself a poet, she knows how difficult it is to write and then prune the poetic output and finally get it published. That is why she is rather surprised that her poetic book is out in the market. Also, when she wrote this poem, printing book was not an easy job. However, it is surprising that her friends managed to get her book printed but she is not satisfied as she finds various mistakes and spots in the book that she tries to remove. She fears that now the angry critics would vent up their spleen over it. Therefore, she advises the book that it must find good critics and narrate her story of being an orphan with a poor mother.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Author to Her Book

Anne Bradstreet used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices Bradstreet has used are as follows.

  1. Archaic: It means to use old English to write poetry or prose. The poem shows the use of archaic diction or language, such as “Thou ill-form’d offspring of my feeble brain.
  2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i / in “Who after birth didst by my side remain” and the sound of /o/ in “And for thy Mother, she alas is poor.”
  3. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /m/ in “my mind”, and /w/ in “way where.”
  4. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ and /n/ in “Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true” and the sound of /s/ in “In this array ’mongst Vulgars mayst thou roam.”
  5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Anne Bradstreet used imagery in this poem, such as “In this array ’mongst Vulgars mayst thou roam”, “And take thy way where yet thou art not known” and “If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none.”
  6. Irony: It means to the contradictory meanings of the words used in different contexts. For example, Bradstreet used irony when she says that “And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw” which shows that she intended to remove a spot but it widened.
  7. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used the extended metaphor of the book, comparing it to a child.
  8. Personification: It means the attribution of human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the book as a personification in the last verses as she addresses the book as a human being.
  9. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as the brain, friends, press, errors, and a book to show creativity.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Author to Her Book

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal, archaic, and poetic diction.
  2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Anne Bradstreet used end rhyme in this poem, such as brain/remain and true/view.
  3. Heroic Couplet: This device shows the use of couple verses rhyming with each other. For example,

                        Made thee in raggs, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judg).

  1. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the AABB rhyme scheme until the end of the poem.
  2. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This poem is a single stanza having 24 verses written in heroic couplet.
  3. Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a simple, ironic, and dedicated tone.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to advise a sole surviving son about how to live in the world.

And take thy way where yet thou art not known,
If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none:
And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Which caus’d her thus to send thee out of door.