Valerie SampsonMs MyersAML 201029 May 2019First DraftThere are multiple views on readings

Valerie SampsonMs. MyersAML 201029 May 2019First DraftThere are multiple views on readings and on how they can be seen from all different kinds of angles. One at first being believed as saying one thing but in the end meaning actually something completely different. The poet Anne Bradstreet had a way with her words throughout each of her poems by making the reader think she was talking about one thing but in reality, it was a big symbolic meaning to what she actually meant. In the poem, “In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659.” she used an enormous metaphor throughout the entire poem by referencing her children and life to the cycle of birds. Some may read her poem and believe it was stating the cycle of nature, the upsetting process she went through, or that she was angry with her kids’ departure. Truly she was stating the obvious of her kids growing up and leaving home, to her worrying about their safety, and Anne Bradstreet finally realizing the happiness of it all in the end.The main purpose that is shown to help the reader see that the poem is not being about the cycle of nature is the metaphors that are used to describe the process of her children leaving home. In the poem, “In Reference to her Children, 23 June 1659” the writing states, “I had eight birds hatched in one nest/ Four cocks there were, and hens the rest. / I nursed them up with pain and care, / Nor cost, nor labor did I spare” (pg.239). Throughout the poem Anne Bradstreet connected her children to birds because she was expressing that in one minute their only babies but in the blink of an eye, they are full grown and anxious to spread their wings far and fly. She used the metaphor through out for two reasons, first to give readers a clearer view of what was really happening and second to help herself cope with their absence. The reference of birds was not to represent nature but life in itself. Anne Bradstreet wrote the poem to tie together that through any species and mankind, all babies will grow to the point where a mother can no longer drape her wing over to protect their babies from the harsh elements of this world. Additionally, in the article Anne Bradstreet: Poems Summary and Analysis of “In Reference to her Children”” it states