In Reference to her children-Anne Bradstreet

So, I have never understood poetry, ever.  I feel as if I have tried so hard to understand poetry, both in high school, and through college, and it has never made sense to me.  I’m not sure what it is about this particular poem of Bradstreet’s, but it really clicked with me.  To finally read a poem that I could make sense of the first time I read it was really exciting.  I thought it was so beautifully written; I loved how she was telling the story of all of her children, and how they grew up.  Reading this gave me a whole new perspective on motherhood.  It is one thing to hear someone talk about their kids growing up and leaving home, but her choice to write about them as if they were birds gave her poem so much more depth.  My favorite lines from this poem are “Great was my pain when I you bred, Great was my care, when I you fed, Long did I keep you soft and warm, And with my wings kept off all harm, My cares are more, and fears than ever, My throbs such now, as ‘fore were never” (671).  Bradstreet really does a great job of displaying what motherhood really is in this poem, but these lines stood out to me the most.  The way she wrote this poem offers so much insight to what being a mother really is all about.  As we’ve discussed in class, a mother has the toughest job, but reading about motherhood in this poem gave me a greater appreciation for all of the things they do that go unsaid.  Mothers have to do everything for their kids, and then at some point, let them leave the nest and fly away. This poem was so sad and so beautiful at the same time, because of how real it was, and the emotion she showed through it.