Talk:Before the Birth of One of Her Children

Synopsis

Anne Bradstreet's "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" is a beautifully written poem that conveys a message to her husband. This message is more than just a plea to keep her children safe when death forces her to part with her beloved children. It is meant to illustrate the extent she would go to, to do so herself if she could. Bradstreet makes evident that she would do anything in her power to ensure her children's well being. A sense of fear and worry is evident as she foreshadows the events that may take place to threaten her children, as shown by the line, "And if thou love thyself, or loved'st me, These O protect from stepdame's injury." The entirety of the poem is directed at her husband using an emotional appeal to basically say "If you love me as you claim you do, keep OUR children as your number one priority in life once I am gone, and let nothing that I would disapprove of, harm them in any way." She uses the specific placement of the ideas of "if" you care for me and our children, "then" you must promise to care for them the way I do, once I pass away.

The poem is clearly written to her husband, not to  the child. Previous analysis of the poem stated that it is not clear who it was intended for, but you can interpret that it was intended for her husband. She speaks of the tie that her and her spouse share, which is a direct reference to the child. Making mention of her children in "And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains/ Look to my little babes, my dear remains," shows the intended audience and is vital to the audiences understanding of the poem as a whole. The bond they share, are the children. She makes it quite evident that her main concern in life is insuring the wellbeing, happiness, and safety for her children once she dies. Bradstreet is showing her family that death is an inevitable event that they will all have to deal with at some point in time. She refers to her own death, which could be a near or distant event, in an attempt to make this idea more realistic. She wants to family to remember her value and worth and leave her faults in her "oblivious grave". Bradstreet is speaking in this poem as it is the last time she will speak with them again as she stated,

"And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse,

With some sad sighs honour my absent hearse;

And kiss this paper for thy love's dear sake,

Who with salt tears this last farewell did take."

Analysis

Bradstreet grew up in a wealthy upper class family in England, which gave her the advantages to a superb education, leading her to write famous pieces like Before the Birth of One of Her Children and to tie in personal stories to her works. Bradstreet is sometimes called “America’s First Feminist” because all of her works reveal a strong belief in the intelligence and confidence of women. Bradstreet begins her poem by explaining to her child that no matter what, death is upon us. That no matter the bond of friendship or love, death is a common part of life and our loved ones must leave us when their time has come.

“No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet,
 But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet.”

Anne longs to write to her not-yet-born baby to make her child aware that life is not perfect, and that there will be sorrows. “That when that knot’s untied that made us one,

  I may seem thine, who in effect am none.
 And if I see not half my days that’s due,”

Bradstreet then writes about the possibilities of her death from childbirth, because in that time, death was common among women bearing children and proved to be a great risk for Bradstreet. She also wanted her child to know of her undying love the two would share together, even though they have yet to meet. Bradstreet then goes on to ask her child to let her faults and sins be put to rest with her in her grave, and only remember her good virtues and worth. She also wants her first child to protect its siblings from a potential stepmother and always remember this poem when things go bad, because in ending this poem, Bradstreet shed tears thinking about not being able to spend a whole lifetime with this new child.

Tone

Throughout this poem, Bradstreet had a melancholy tone. She is writing to her first child and husband about her possible death during childbirth. Although the over all message of the poem is sad, Bradstreet still tends to write with eloquence and grace. One can tell that this poem really came from the heart, being a possible personal story, because she even speaks about how she shed tears while writing. In this work, she finds for herself a way to overcome her fear of death, by writing down her words for her children and husband and hoping they will pass on her messages even when she is gone.

Theme

Bradstreet uses the relationship between love and death as the underlying theme of this poem. She explores this idea by concentrating specifically on her love for her family as the main way to deal with the tragedy that is death. The struggle between coming to terms with death and having to leave your loved ones is a constant battle that Bradstreet manages to shed delicate light on. She wants to make sure that her family knows that while one day she will no longer be with them, her love for them will never fade and she intends to ensure that she will leave a legacy of a continuation of her love behind when she passes. And underlying tone to this theme is her clearly depicted maternal adoration and concern for the children she brought to this earth. She shows an intense love and respect for the innocence of a child and it is evident that she wishes to guarantee that no foul event should ever challenge the fragility and innocence of her children. She analyzes death to be an event that one would only be able to get through by having the love of all their family surrounding them. This theme is a topic that will be written on for the history of the Earth and she does a beautiful job in showing how tenderly she can discuss it. She is referencing how love will not alter even after someone has passed on when she says,

"If any worth or virtue were in me,

Let that live freshly in thy memory

And when thou feel'st no grief, as I no harms,

Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms."

These lines are vital to the theme of the poem as a whole in that they clearly illustrate that, even though she knows that death will cause her to part with her beloved children, her husband should keep her alive in his memory and in his actions towards the children by doing as she would have done.

Audience

Bradstreet's intended audience is that of her husband. She first wrote the poem addressing him and displaying her value and sentiment towards the idea of death causing the part between her and her husband, but more importantly, between her and her children. It is intended for the husband to learn and acknowledge her views on the tragedy that is death, but also to show that the sadness and loss can be overcome and mourning defeated through helping her live on in the hearts of the husband and children in treating and protecting one another as she would have done. The secondary audience is intended for families in general. She plays on the emotions of readers that are family oriented and appeals to the fear and sadness family members feel when prompted to think about the loss of their relatives. Though it might not have been an initially intended audience, scholarly readers are most likely to understand this poem for what she intended its meaning to be. The average mind might process the poem in the most simplistic terms; an illustration of death and the will to leave a legacy for ones own family. However, the scholarly mind is able to interpret it with a much deeper meaning; the depiction of the process of life and death. Though the mother's life will eventually end, Bradstreet intends to show that she can live on through those family members left by making them understand that if they love her, they must treat the children and each other as she would, and keep the promise that she would not be disappointed in the ways in which the family mourned her death.