Source A: Anne Bradstreet Biography
Anne Bradstreet was born around 1612 in England. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley, who worked as an estate manager for a powerful Puritan nobleman. Anne received a private education and had access to a large library, which helped her develop a love for reading and writing at a young age. She married Simon Bradstreet when she was about sixteen years old.
In 1630, Anne and her family joined a group of Puritans who sailed to North America to build a new colony based on their religious beliefs. They landed in Massachusetts and faced a much harder life than they had expected. The Bradstreets moved several times, living in towns such as Salem, Cambridge, Ipswich, and finally North Andover. Anne gave birth to eight children and took care of her home and family, especially when her husband was away on political or legal work.
Despite her responsibilities and frequent illness, Anne continued to write poetry. Her writing often reflected her thoughts about family, faith, and life in the new colony. Without her knowledge, her brother-in-law brought a collection of her poems to England. In 1650, they were published under the title The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. This made Anne Bradstreet the first published poet from the American colonies.
Later in life, Anne focused more on writing poems for her family. These poems became more personal, dealing with topics such as the death of a grandchild, her fears before childbirth, and her deep religious beliefs. One of her most famous poems, “Contemplations,” was not published until long after her death. Her poems were admired for their honesty and emotional depth, even though she lived in a time when women were not usually expected to become writers.
Anne also wrote short pieces of advice to her children in a book called “Meditations.” She passed away in 1672 after a long illness, most likely tuberculosis. A later edition of her poetry, Several Poems, was published in 1678, with many new poems included.
Today, Anne Bradstreet is remembered not only as an early American poet but also as a woman who found time to write during a demanding and uncertain period in history.
Source B: Excerpt from An Epitaph on My Dear and Ever-honored Mother, Mrs. Dorothy Dudley, Who Deceased December 27, 1643, and of her Age, 61 by Anne Bradstreet. 1643.
A true instructor of her family,
The which she ordered with dexterity.
The public meetings ever did frequent,
And in her closet hours she spent;
Religious in all her words and ways,
Preparing still for death, till end of days;
Of all her children, children lived to see,
Then dying, left a blessed memory.