In "The Author to Her Book," Bradstreet is inundated in indecision and internal struggles over the virtues and shortfalls of her abilities and the book that she produced. As human beings we associate and sympathize with each other through similar experiences. It is difficult to sympathize with someone when you don't know where they are coming from and don't know what they are dealing with. Similar experiences and common bonds are what allow us to extend our sincere appreciation and understanding for another human being's situation. In this poem an elaborate struggle between pride and shame manifests itself through an extended metaphor in which she equates her book to her own child.
"The Author to Her Book" expresses some of the emotions …show more content…
She is portraying the same sense of shame a mother would feel if her child had misbehaved. She is also showing how she felt as a writer whose work had been published before she was ready or in the mindset of the metaphor of the poem the feeling a mother would have if her child were taken from her before she had time to teach the child how to behave.
The shame she felt may not have been solely based on the fact she made some mistakes in her writing. A mother feels the most shame and embarrassment, not when a child misbehaves, but when her child misbehaves in public where everyone can see. This reflects badly on the mother. It makes her look as if she does not discipline or try to correct her child. In relation to the metaphor of the poem Bradstreet does not feel shame because she made mistake but because the world now sees her mistakes as she stated in line 6 "all may judge" (line 6).
Lines 10 through 14 continue to show Bradstreet's desire to prefect her work and correct any errors. "I was thy face, but more defects I saw" (Line 12) However, Bradstreet showed that she loved her work unconditionally, just as a mother loves her child. Children are what their parents make them an even though they try correct every aspect of their child that