Anne Bradstreet was not only of the first of female poets of England, but was also one of the first American residential poets of the New World. This being considered, she was a highly influential woman. With her writing she brought light to subjects she thought were worth writing about. Those subjects included: the role of women, her faith, and theological and scientific trends of the European world. INSERT QUOTE Anne Dudley-Bradstreet was born in Northamptonshire, England, March 20th 1612/13. Anne’s parents were Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke-Bradstreet. Anne also had a brother, Samuel Dudley, and a sister, Patience Dudley. Anne spent the majority of her childhood on Theophilus Clinton’s estate where her father worked. Because she
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It soon was listed on William London’s Catalogue of the Most Vendible Books in England eight years after its release. In the first section of The Tenth Muse, Bradstreet wrote four long poems critics call quaternions. The quaternions include: “The Four Elements”, “The Four Humours of Man”, “The Four Ages of Man”, and “The Four Seasons”. Each of these poems contain four orations or lessons. In these works Bradstreet compares the positive and negative aspects of each component. For example, in “The Four Elements” fire represents boldness. Anne portrays this emphasizing fire’s condescending nature and boastfulness, similar to Middle Age, Summer, and Choler from the other quaternions. Air however, is different in that it represents unity. Although it does not comment on unity, like Winter and Old Age, readers can distinguish that the elements were not meant to be separated and that they were created to compliment each other. As Critics agree on that the quaternions are not Bradstreet’s best works, but were an important step in her development of new poetic forms. It is obvious that in Bradstreet’s first pieces of published poetry she is not confident in her writing and is dependent on her influences. For example, Anne admitted that she used her father’s poems for inspiration on her quaternion
It soon was listed on William London’s Catalogue of the Most Vendible Books in England eight years after its release. In the first section of The Tenth Muse, Bradstreet wrote four long poems critics call quaternions. The quaternions include: “The Four Elements”, “The Four Humours of Man”, “The Four Ages of Man”, and “The Four Seasons”. Each of these poems contain four orations or lessons. In these works Bradstreet compares the positive and negative aspects of each component. For example, in “The Four Elements” fire represents boldness. Anne portrays this emphasizing fire’s condescending nature and boastfulness, similar to Middle Age, Summer, and Choler from the other quaternions. Air however, is different in that it represents unity. Although it does not comment on unity, like Winter and Old Age, readers can distinguish that the elements were not meant to be separated and that they were created to compliment each other. As Critics agree on that the quaternions are not Bradstreet’s best works, but were an important step in her development of new poetic forms. It is obvious that in Bradstreet’s first pieces of published poetry she is not confident in her writing and is dependent on her influences. For example, Anne admitted that she used her father’s poems for inspiration on her quaternion