Bradstreet also wrote about her fear of death and whether her husband might remarry. "Through her dread of dying in childbirth lets us see that her deeper fear is a jealous one that her husband might remarry," (Hensley xxiii). Bradstreet's description of childbirth as being a shade away from death shows what life was like for women in the colonies. "The last month of pregnancy was not only a time for making 'pyes' but also a time of making peace with the idea of approaching death," (Gordon 135).

Motherhood is another prominent theme in Anne Bradstreet's poetry. Bradstreet's protective instinct is expressed in the verse, "great was my pain when I you bred, great was my care when you I fed, long did I kept you soft and warm, and with my wing kept off all harm," (cited by Gordon 151). Bradstreet continues the bird analogy: "I had eight birds...
[ View Full Essay]