(1612?–72). One of the first poets in England's American colonies was Anne Bradstreet. Like most other people living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, she practiced a strict form of Christianity known as Puritanism. Her poems reflect her religion.

Early life

Anne Bradstreet was born Anne Dudley in Northampton, England, in about 1612. Her parents were Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke. They were both well educated and from successful families. Anne received a good education at home. At age 16 she married Simon Bradstreet, the son of a Puritan minister. In 1630 the young couple decided to move to America with Anne's parents and other Puritans who wanted to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The difficult three-month voyage across the stormy Atlantic Ocean gave Anne a fair warning of the difficult life she would face in what is now Massachusetts. The climate was harsh and illness spread rapidly. As a young colonist Bradstreet fell ill for a long time. But she recovered and the first of her eight children came soon afterward. She and Simon slowly adjusted to their new surroundings.

Career

Because of Simon's work in various government posts, he often traveled. Anne spent weeks on her own with her children. During this time, she began writing. She wrote about her family and her feelings about religion. She did not share her poetry with others outside of her family. However, her sister's husband took a copy of her poems with him on a trip to England. Without Bradstreet's knowledge, he arranged for them to be published there in 1650 as a book called The Tenth Muse. This work—the first book of poems written by an American—was a success in England. Her poems and other writings were not published in North America until after her death.

Later life

The Bradstreets moved from the Massachusetts town of Cambridge to Ipswich and then to Andover. Andover became their permanent home. Anne Bradstreet contracted tuberculosis and battled the disease for a long time. She died at her home in Andover in 1672 at the age of 60. Her works were praised by Puritans in her own time, and they came to be appreciated once more in the 20th century.