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Anne Bradstreet: Puritan Wife and Mother
- University of New Hampshire Press
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Anne Bradstreet Puritan Wife and Mother There is no question that Anne Bradstreet’s most important legacy was as a poet—the first published American poet, the first English woman to publish a book of poems, and the first English poet to publish explicitly marital love lyrics. But the purpose of this chapter is to look at her life for insights into the varieties of puritanism. While puritan governors such as John Endecott and John Leverett and puritan clergymen such as John davenport and Increase Mather struggled to define the public character of New England’s kingdom of God, the heart of the effort to transform society remained the little commonwealth that was the family. Ultimately, puritanism was a personal quest. Anne Bradstreet’s life and writings offer one of the best windows through which we can peer into and understand that quest in the setting of the puritan household. A nne was the daughter of Governor Thomas dudley and the wife of simon Bradstreet, who succeeded John Leverett as gover nor of Massachusetts. she was born in England in 1612. Her mother, born dorothy Yorke, was a gentlewoman who undertook the early education of Anne and her siblings. she was also a woman of strong religious sensibilities whom Anne remembered for being “religious in all her words and ways,” for spending many hours in private meditation, and frequenting lay religious meetings. It is likely that she often led the household in its daily religious exercises. dorothy set her children an example of “a loving mother and obedient wife,” who was friendly to her peers and charitable to the poor. When Anne was about six years old the family moved to the sempringham estate of the Earl of Lincoln, who had just employed Thomas 234 First Founders dudley as his steward. The Countess of Lincoln allowed Anne to study with her own daughters under their tutor, the physician and poet Thomas Lodge. Equally important, Anne was given the opportunity to use the library at the sempringham estate. While still young she was drawn to the study of history and to poetry. Anne’s domestic religious training was supplemented by sermons preached by the Earl’s chaplains and by preachers who visited, such as John Preston. And she joined her parents and siblings when they journeyed the fifteen miles to Boston to worship at st. Botolph’s and listen to John Cotton. Typically, they travelled on saturday, spent the evening at one of the Earl’s town properties, and attended services on sunday. In around 1626 the family moved to Boston, though Thomas continued to serve as the Earl’s steward. Anne later remembered that as a young girl she began to be conscious of her behavior and to recognize certain things “as sinful, as lying, disobedience to my parents, etc.” When she succumbed to evil impulses it troubled her, and she “could not be at rest till by prayer I had confessed it to God.” she found herself too often neglectful of her household duties, but “found much comfort in reading the scriptures, especially those places I thought most concerned my condition; and as I grew to have more understanding, so the more solace I took in them.” Like John Winthrop and many other puritans, Anne’s teenage years found her tempted by new thoughts and desires. she later told her children , “About 14 or 15 I found my heart more carnal, and sitting loose from God. . . . Vanity and the follies of youth took hold of me.” At around the same time she became seriously ill. she feared death and was fearful that her sinfulness would damn her. she “besought the Lord” and confessed her “pride and vanity” and though God restored her to health, she believed that she was remiss in thanking him. In 1627 Anne married simon Bradstreet. He was the son of the rev. simon Bradstreet, a moderate puritan clergyman who had managed to conform sufficiently to retain his living in the diocese of Lincoln until his death in 1621. The young simon had received his BA and MA degrees from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He then was employed by the Earl of Lincoln as an assistant to Thomas dudley, and at sem- [3.238.161.165] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 11:03 GMT) Anne Bradstreet 235 pringham he met Anne. In 1627 the dowager countess of Warwick hired simon to serve as her steward. This provided him with a situation that made it possible for him...