In her anthology The Tenth Muse Recently Appeared in America (1650), Anne Bradstreet focuses on her most dominant concerns, family and women's roles as wife and mother. . Based on biblical authority, womanhood and motherhood are not only roles but also sacred spiritual values ​​deeply rooted in society. As a Puritan woman, Bradstreet upholds these family values. Because of her belief in the sanctity of marriage, she displays unwavering devotion to her husband and, in her poems, makes numerous marital and marital references. As a mother, her devotion and love for her offspring is undeniable as she infuses mother imagery into her poems. Anne Bradstreet's poetry reveals the precious values ​​of wifehood and motherhood as she upholds the family norms and principles typical of the Puritan woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Bradstreet's poems express the most sacred and inviolable unity of the marital relationship. These principles, which are supported by the Bible, are reflected in Bradstreet's poems, "Before One of Her Children Was Born," "To My Dear and Loving Husband," and "A Letter to Her Husband." According to author Amanda Porterfield, “Puritan ministers…invested the relationships between husbands and wives with religious significance. Through this religious interpretation of the relationship between husband and wife, the Puritans established marriage as the basic unit of the social order” (4). The Bible, the Puritans' scriptural authority, states that "a man shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh" (The King James Version Bible, Gen. 2:24). Underlining the unity and bond of the spouses, Christ says that “they will both be one flesh; so that they will no longer be two, but one flesh” (Mark 10:8). Additionally, in tandem with the theme of marital unity, the apostle Paul declares that husband and wife “shall be one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). Similarly, Bradstreet, in her poems, emphasizes the unity and bond of love between her and her husband. In the poem “Before one of his children was born,” Bradstreet refers to “that knot […] which made us one” (L. 11). The inextricable bond that unites man and woman in the marital relationship brings them together in such a way that the two parties become one - not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. Bradstreet celebrates this union between her and her husband in “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” as she writes, “for if ever two were one, then we” (L.1). “A Letter to Her Husband” echoes marital unity because, even though the husband and wife are geographically distant from each other, they are still “both but one” (L. 26). Bradstreet here indicates not only a spiritual but also a carnal unity. Bradstreet draws on the model of marital unity, Adam and Eve, to celebrate the passionate union between her and her husband. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam is presented to his wife Eve, he proclaims her “flesh of [his] flesh and bone of [his] bones” (Genesis 2:23). Likewise, Bradstreet exults in the marital union and calls himself “flesh of [his] flesh and bone of [his] bones” (L. 25). The ideal union between man and woman is consummated in the sexual act and lasts in a faithful and monogamous marriage. Incorporating biblical doctrines on marriage into his works solidifies the principles of pure love, unity and chastity. A natural act of marriage is procreation, which is why Bradstreet continues to celebrate motherhood. Bradstreet's poetry is rich with images of the mother whoinclude conception, procreation and child rearing. According to the article Negotiating Theology and Gynecology, "the power of motherhood as a metaphor becomes apparent in Bradstreet's own writings [...] in the discussion of Bradstreet as a woman poet, the mother metaphor has particular force for she mixes the occupations of mother and poet” (Lutes 310). She loves her children, and affectionately calls them her “little babies” (Before the Birth), “true living images of their father’s face” (A Letter LX), “the fruits […] that (she) bore” (A Letter), and “just flowers” ​​(In memory of my dear grandchild). It is worth noting that during his life, Bradstreet had eight children. Most of the time she rejoices in her children, but the joys of motherhood are accompanied by sorrows. Unfortunately, in her life and poetry there is an undercurrent of tragedy since mortality is high among pregnant women during pregnancy and childbirth. Death among pregnant women is so common that Bradstreet, when pregnant, prepares to die by writing a farewell poem to her husband entitled "Before One of Her Children is Born." Another catastrophe of motherhood is the bitter experience of the death of a child. In Bradstreet's era, infant mortality was also common and she did not escape this harsh reality. Evidence of this tragic circumstance is the dedication of two poems to her deceased children and grandchildren: "In memory of my dear granddaughter Elizabeth Bradstreet, who died in August, 1665, aged a year and a half" and “About my dear grandchild Simon Bradstreet.” , died November 16, 1669, aged one month and one day. These endearing titles convey Bradstreet's feelings of maternal love for her children and grandchildren and add strength to the threats to motherhood. Despite these adversities linked to motherhood, the image of the maternal figure continues to recur in her poems. Bradstreet imbues his poetry with maternal images and references. In “The Prologue to His Book,” Bradstreet alludes to Calliope, the most prominent of the nine Greek muses of poetry. According to myth, Calliope was a wife and mother, just like Bradstreet. This allusion is certainly apt because Bradstreet herself, as a wife and mother, is blessed with the poetic gift of "the poetry that made Calliope's own child" (L.33). Bradstreet thus creates the imagery of a pregnant muse Calliope, giving birth to poems and reinforcing the theme of motherhood. In “The Author of His Book,” Bradstreet compares his criticized and misprinted poems to bastardized and orphaned “ill-formed offspring” (L.1). The conception and publication of her poems are compared to a "birth" (L. 2) and provide strong images of motherhood, childbirth and education. While the mother anxiously and painstakingly repairs her dirty and neglected child, Bradstreet attempts to edit her poorly printed poems. She washes the face, erases stains, dresses and stretches the joints of uneven feet (L. 10-20). Here, the child's feet refer to the iambic pentameter foot of the poem. We can therefore clearly see the references and images of motherhood in Bradstreet's poems. In Bradstreet's society, the ideals of wife and mother are rooted in the biblical model of wifehood and motherhood as defined in Prov. 31:10 – 29: Who can find a virtuous wife? because its price is much higher than rubies. Her husband's heart trusts in her safely[…]She will do him good and not harm all the days of his life[…]she works willingly with her hands[…]she looks carefully at the ways of her house , and he does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children stand up and call her blessed; her. 1998. 517 – 42.