Example Of A Poem Analysis Paper: Author To Her Book
Author to Her Book is a poem by Anne Bradstreet that can relate to many authors who write either poetry or technical manuals. The poem is about her book Tenth Muse: lately sprung up in America that was published without her approval or awareness (Academy of American Poets). In the poem, she speaks as if the book is her child, a child taken from its safe and exposed to the world before it was ready. She believes as a child’s behavior reflects on its parent, her book also reflects on her. When she looks at it and with the knowledge that the world will look at it too, she observes so many flaws that she wishes she could hide it away. She feels that any changes she makes will do no good and instead hopes that no critic will see her book, and write a derisive review about it. She thinks that anyone reading the book in its poorly written state would view her as a poor writer.
The poem is written in Iambic Pentameter through which she is depicting the vulnerability that she felt at the publishing of her book. Iambic pentameter has an unstressed, stressed syllabic pattern that is like rocking or a soothing lullaby used possibly to ease her worries that it is out there for all to read. "Who after birth didst at my side remain” (Academy of American Poets. line 2). This is a good example of iambic pentameter used in her poem. This line speaks of a child being born and staying by her side. When a mother is fostering a child, she frequently uses a rocking chair to encourage it to sleep. She is calming herself because she feels susceptible, like a child, because the book was published unfinished. She feels desecrated by her friends who did not seek her permission before publishing it.
The metaphor of the child shows that she feels connected emotionally and responsible for the poetry. If someone were to review the book, then he/she would be reviewing her. As in the lines: "And for thy mother, she alas is poor, / which caused her thus to send thee out of door” (Academy of American Poets. Lines 23-24) It is a direct reference to the theme of motherhood. She is clutching to a child that had to leave before she was set to let go. She is concerned that a less than becoming image of her child will mirror poorly on her parenting skills. Therefore, the unfinished book could reflect back on her writing skills and make her the object of derision.Anne Bradstreet Personification of the book as a child creates empathy in the reader as well as making it easier for the audience to relate to the love and anguish she feels. "I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Academy of American Poets. Line 13). In the line, Bradstreet writes, speaking and giving the book, life even as its traits as a lifeless object are studied. This personification creates an image of a worried mother trying to assist the child present its best face to the world. "I stretched thy joint to make thee even feet,” she writes the line, accentuating the care required for the book (Academy of American Poets. line 15).The perfectionism of Anne Bradstreet is not a new phenomenon. She utilizes tone imagery and diction to present her dislike and insecurities about her own work, a consequence of human defects that have brought to life an insufficient piece of literature. Her selection of terminologies in Author to her book reveals that while confessing an intimate and close relationship with it, she is deeply frustrated with her book. The terms "homespun", "irksome”, "defects”, "errors”, "defects”, and "blemishes," all accentuate her disgust. She does not seem to find any redeeming attribute in the book, though she does everything in her influence to cure the blatant errors.
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