"Auther to her Book" Explication
“The Author to Her Book” By Anne Bradstreet
In her poem “The Author to Her Book,” poet Anne Bradstreet portrays the feelings one feels as his or her work is read and criticized by others and the eventual acceptance of the faults in the writing. Bradstreet portrays this outlook on the creation process through the use of a metaphor comparing a written work- specifically a “book” in this poem –and a child.
Bradstreet uses motherly language and words with a protective connotation in describing her “child” in order to reveal the speaker’s admiration and hopes for him or her. Though the speaker describes her child in the poem as “ill-formed,” suggesting that the child is defective, she comments that the child “did’st by my side remain,” indicating that she appreciates the child and does not disown it, regardless of its flaws. When describing the revealing of the child to the world, Bradstreet uses the word “snatched,” suggesting that the child was “exposed to public view” without the speaker’s wanting this. In describing how the mother holds her child by her side and suggesting that she resents its being “exposed,” Bradstreet depicts the love with which a writer holds his or her work and how unwilling he or she may be to reveal that work to the “public.” To further defend her child, the speaker comments on “the press” and its judgment on the “errors” of the child. When taken into context, the resentment that is implied by the tone of this statement depicts the resentment a writer may feel towards those that “trudge” and “judge” his or her writing.
Bradstreet uses irony through how the speaker treats her child to reveal to the reader the embarrassment and pain that a written work can cause a writer. The speaker comments that at the return of the critique of her “child”- or at the return of a writer’s work from an editor – her “blushing was not small.” The embarrassment that the speaker feels is enough for her to cast the child as “unfit for light,” using religious register to suggest that the child is not worthy of God. The speaker even finds the child “irksome” and cannot stand looking at it. This is comparable to a writer losing hope and love for a written work and not being able to reread it due to embarrassment in his or her own creation. This description by the speaker of her child is ironic and stands out to the reader as unusual, as a mother tends not to find her child unbearable. The irony is used to better convey to the reader that a writer at times might also not find his or her work bearable, which, like a mother not embracing her child, may appear odd to the reader.
Though a writer may feel a great deal of embarrassment from his or her “ill-formed” writing, Bradstreet suggests that, like a mother working to better her child, a writer goes through many painstaking and sometimes ineffective sessions of amendments to try to better his or her writing. The speaker of the poem tries “at length” to amend the “blemishes” of her child, which can be connected to a writer editing the flaws and imperfections of his or her writing. However, as Bradstreet’s juxtaposition of the speakers efforts to better her child with her child’s lack of response each time suggests, a writer can try to “amend,” “wash,” “stretch” and “better dress” his or her work but there will always exist some flaws in it. In fact, the speaker comments that the more adjustments she made to her child, the more her child would display other defects.
Through the metaphor Bradstreet creates between a written work and a child, she depicts the writing process from the first draft, to the release to the editor and its first critique, to its many rounds of editing and finally to the ultimate version of the written work which is “[sent] out the door” to a judging world. Bradstreet’s purpose in writing this poem is finalized when the speaker of the poem accepts that her child is imperfect and sends it out into the world, suggesting that in people and in writing, perfection is an unreachable goal and imperfections are irremovable.
In her poem “The Author to Her Book,” poet Anne Bradstreet portrays the feelings one feels as his or her work is read and criticized by others and the eventual acceptance of the faults in the writing. Bradstreet portrays this outlook on the creation process through the use of a metaphor comparing a written work- specifically a “book” in this poem –and a child.
Bradstreet uses motherly language and words with a protective connotation in describing her “child” in order to reveal the speaker’s admiration and hopes for him or her. Though the speaker describes her child in the poem as “ill-formed,” suggesting that the child is defective, she comments that the child “did’st by my side remain,” indicating that she appreciates the child and does not disown it, regardless of its flaws. When describing the revealing of the child to the world, Bradstreet uses the word “snatched,” suggesting that the child was “exposed to public view” without the speaker’s wanting this. In describing how the mother holds her child by her side and suggesting that she resents its being “exposed,” Bradstreet depicts the love with which a writer holds his or her work and how unwilling he or she may be to reveal that work to the “public.” To further defend her child, the speaker comments on “the press” and its judgment on the “errors” of the child. When taken into context, the resentment that is implied by the tone of this statement depicts the resentment a writer may feel towards those that “trudge” and “judge” his or her writing.
Bradstreet uses irony through how the speaker treats her child to reveal to the reader the embarrassment and pain that a written work can cause a writer. The speaker comments that at the return of the critique of her “child”- or at the return of a writer’s work from an editor – her “blushing was not small.” The embarrassment that the speaker feels is enough for her to cast the child as “unfit for light,” using religious register to suggest that the child is not worthy of God. The speaker even finds the child “irksome” and cannot stand looking at it. This is comparable to a writer losing hope and love for a written work and not being able to reread it due to embarrassment in his or her own creation. This description by the speaker of her child is ironic and stands out to the reader as unusual, as a mother tends not to find her child unbearable. The irony is used to better convey to the reader that a writer at times might also not find his or her work bearable, which, like a mother not embracing her child, may appear odd to the reader.
Though a writer may feel a great deal of embarrassment from his or her “ill-formed” writing, Bradstreet suggests that, like a mother working to better her child, a writer goes through many painstaking and sometimes ineffective sessions of amendments to try to better his or her writing. The speaker of the poem tries “at length” to amend the “blemishes” of her child, which can be connected to a writer editing the flaws and imperfections of his or her writing. However, as Bradstreet’s juxtaposition of the speakers efforts to better her child with her child’s lack of response each time suggests, a writer can try to “amend,” “wash,” “stretch” and “better dress” his or her work but there will always exist some flaws in it. In fact, the speaker comments that the more adjustments she made to her child, the more her child would display other defects.
Through the metaphor Bradstreet creates between a written work and a child, she depicts the writing process from the first draft, to the release to the editor and its first critique, to its many rounds of editing and finally to the ultimate version of the written work which is “[sent] out the door” to a judging world. Bradstreet’s purpose in writing this poem is finalized when the speaker of the poem accepts that her child is imperfect and sends it out into the world, suggesting that in people and in writing, perfection is an unreachable goal and imperfections are irremovable.
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