Anne Bradstreet

Sailing to the New World at the age of eighteen, Anne Bradstreet was among the first contingent of Puritan refugees to leave English shores between 1630 and 1642, in search of liberty to worship without fear of persecution from state or church. Frequently struggling with ill-health, in addition to the challenges of raising a family in the harsh conditions faced by the early settlers, she achieved unexpected fame as America’s first published poet, a remarkable feat for a woman in view of the cultural prejudices of the times.

Anne’s writings reveal her as a devoted wife and mother, while also expressing the strong spiritual convictions and the biblical truths that shaped America’s early laws and underpinned its society. But, above all, Anne Bradstreet viewed the Christian life as a pilgrimage. Her humble dependence on God and her desire to live constantly in the light of a better world yet to come, ‘whose builder and maker is God’, provide a challenge to our frequently materialistic, earthbound outlook.