image:Bradstreet1.gif Anne Bradstreet (circa 1612 – September 16, 1672) was the first United States female writer as well as the first American female poet to have her works published. Bradstreet was born as Anne Dudley in Northampton, England. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Dudley, Earl of Lincoln, and she grew up in cultured circumstances. At the age of sixteen she married Simon Bradstreet. Both Anne's father and Anne's husband were later to serve as governors of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Anne and Simon, along with Anne's parents, immigrated to America aboard the Arbella during the "Great Migration" in 1630.Woodlief, A. (n.d.). Biography of Anne Bradstreet. Retrieved September 1, 2006, from http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Bradstreet/bradbio.htm Bradstreet was an unusually well-educated woman for her time, which allowed her to express herself through writing. She wrote about politics, history, medicine, and theology. Her personal library of books was said to have numbered over 800, many of which were destroyed when her home burned down on July 10, 1666. This event itself inspired a poem entitled "wikisource:Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 18th, 1666", wherein Bradstreet strives to reconcile her faith in an all-powerful God with the tragedy that has befallen her. Much of Bradstreet's poetry is based on observation of the world around her, focusing heavily on domestic and religious themes. Long considered primarily of historical interest, she won critical acceptance in the 20th century as a writer of enduring verse, particularly for her sequence of religious poems "Contemplations", which was written for her family and not published until the mid-19th century.n. a. (2000). Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Retrieved Septermber 1, 2006, from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0808679.html Bradstreet's work was deeply influenced by poet Guillaume du Bartas, who was favoured by 17th-century readers. In 1647 Bradstreet's brother-in-law, Rev. John Woodbridge, sailed to England, carrying her manuscript of poetry (possibly without her knowledge). Anne's first work was published in London as "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America". The purpose of the publication appears to have been an attempt by devout Puritan men ( i.e. Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, John Woodbridge) to show that a godly and educated woman could elevate the position held by a wife and mother, without necessarily placing her in competition with men. In 1678 her self-revised "Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning" was posthumously published in America, including one of her most famous poems, wikisource:To My Dear and Loving HusbandEllis, J.H. (1867). The Works of Anne Bradstreet in Prose and Verse.. Bradstreet died in 1672, in Andover, Massachusetts. While the precise location of her grave is uncertain, she may have been buried next to her husband in "the Old Burying Point" in Salem, Massachusetts, or in "the Old Burying Ground" on Academy Road in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Descendants

wikisource:Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666

                       

Courtesy of: http://www.wikipedia.org/