“The Author to her Book” By Anne Bradstreet

1 Thou ill-form'd offspring of my feeble brain,

2 Who after birth did'st by my side remain,

3 Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,

4 Who thee abroad expos'd to public view,

5 Made thee in rags, halting to the press to trudge,

6 Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).

7 At thy return my blushing was not small,

8 My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.

9 I cast thee by as one unfit for light,

10 Thy Visage was so irksome in my sight,

11 Yet being mine own, at length affection would

12 Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.

13 I wash'd thy face, but more defects I saw,

14 And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.

15 I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,

16 Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet.

17 In better dress to trim thee was my mind,

18 But nought save home-spun Cloth, in the house I find.

19 In this array, among Vulgars may thou roam.

20 In Critics' hands, beware thou dost not come,

21 And take thy way where yet thou art not known.

22 If for thy Father asked, say, thou had none;

23 And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,

24 Which caus'd her thus to send thee out of door.

What does title have to do with the poem? (How is the title related to the meaning?)

How is the poem structured? (Does it follow any type of rules or pattern? What are they?)

What is the poem really about (explain)?

To express her feelings about having her writing published.

What is the “ill-form’d” offspring of my feeble brain” in line 1? What is the metaphor? Explain.

What is “my rambling brat” in line 8? What is the metaphor?

What happened when the author “wash’d thy face” (line 13)? Did she really wash someone’s face? What is she talking about?