General Information on Anne Bradstreet

• Born in England in 1612
• Married Simon Bradstreet in 1628 at the age of 16.
• Moved to Boston (The New World) in 1630 with her husband and family (If you think its hard moving to a new home, city, or school imagine what it would be like to leave your home for a new, unsettled country!)
• Considered by many to be the first American poet
• One of the few published female writers at the time
• Published two volumes of poetry:
  • First volume contained highly intellectual and abstract subjects. Her brother-in-law stole her manuscript and published it without her consent.
  • Second volume was published after several years in the New World. The subjects in this volume include her family, their home, and their faith.
• Like the other members of the Puritan faith, Anne Bradstreet believed she should lead a life guided by the principles of Grace, Plainness, and Divine Mission.
• In addition to this, Bradstreet tried to follow yet another Puritan practice, that of "weaned affections."
• Weaned affections: Puritans believed that everyone should regard their earthly possessions as a mother from whom they must be weaned. (In other words, they believed they should not get attached to materiel objects.)
• Many of her poems deal with domestic life and religious life

_{Ms. Fye, 1996}