Analysis of Author to her Book, The
Anne Bradstreet 1612 (Northampton) – 1672 (Andover)
Thou ill-form'd offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth did'st by my side remain,
Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad expos'd to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Thy Visage was so irksome in my sight,
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
I wash'd thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.
I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet.
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save home-spun Cloth, i' th' house I find.
In this array, 'mongst Vulgars mayst thou roam.
In Critics' hands, beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known.
If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none;
And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Which caus'd her thus to send thee out of door.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJKLMNO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101 11011111101 1111111111 1101011101 110110111111 1100110111 1101110111 1101011101 1111110111 1101110011 11011110101 1100011111 1111111011 0101011101 1111111101 111111100111 0101111111 111111111111 010111111 0101011111 0111111111 1111011111 0111010111 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,069 |
Words | 208 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 827 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 206 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 94 Views
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"Author to her Book, The" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3076/author-to-her-book%2C-the>.
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