Read the poem.
"The Author to Her Book"
by Anne Bradstreet
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed 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,
The visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched 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 homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.
Personification is a poetic device in which human characteristics or behaviors are assigned to nonhuman things. Bradstreet uses personification throughout her poem.
How does Bradstreet’s use of personification affect meaning in “The Author to Her Book”?
Question 1 options:
A. Bradstreet uses personification to illustrates how all books are aggressively shaped by others before being published.
B. Bradstreet uses personification to establish the idea that her book has come to feel like a parent to her.
C. Bradstreet uses personification to emphasize that her book has many flaws, but that she loves it nonetheless.
D. Bradstreet uses personification to stress the idea that all writers come to resemble their books in some way.
