The first American poet to be published had to keep her book a secret.
Anne Dudley Bradstreet was forced to pretend she knew nothing of the publication of her volume, The Muse Lately Sprung up in America. Prominent politicians and Puritan preachers denounced women who practiced literary writing. In fact, Bradstreet's book was attributed to "A Gentlewoman in those parts."
Although it took 200 years for her name to find a place in literature, her work today is recognized for its celebratory and, sometimes rebellious, view of Puritan life in the Americas.
Born in England, Bradstreet was the precocious daughter of Thomas Dudley, a steward to the Earl of Lincoln. She was tutored in literature, science, and languages. By age 16, she was married and with her husband, Simon Bradstreet, she joined the Puritan migration to the American colonies in 1630.
Anne struggled with wilderness life, accepted hardships as God's will, and became a loving wife and mother of eight children. Like other Puritan women, Bradstreet was expected to keep the house, make clothes, worship, and participate in the community. In what spare time she had, Anne wrote poetry on the joys of her marriage (although romance was frowned upon), faith and children.
When a house fire in 1666 took her large library and writings, but she looked at it through faith: It was His own; it was not mine.
She also cleverly challenged the Puritan notion the women were inferior. In one poem honoring Queen Elizabeth, she wrote: Let such as say our Sex is void of Reason, Know tis a Slander now, but once was Treason.
In 2000, North Andover, Mass., placed a marker commemorating the 350th anniversary of The Muse publication in its cemetery. In 2012, the town honored her 400th birthday with a performance of Anne Bradstreet, Founding Mother and First Poet, Her Story and Poetry.
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