Prologue

“In Honour of That High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth” by Anne Bradstreet (16xx)

Because of King Charles I’s pro-Catholic persecution of Puritans, many of them looked back with fondness to the last Protestant monarch, Queen Elizabeth, who ruled from 1558 to 1603. That Elizabeth was an intelligent, savvy female ruler also appealed to Bradstreet. In this long elegy, divided into four parts, she commends Elizabeth’s many military victories and wise choices as a sovereign. In the poem, Bradstreet claims that her description of Elizabeth’s attributes cannot compete with that of other writers, a stance similar to that of “Prologue.” She also touches on the value of women, suggesting, “Masculines, you have thus tax’d us long, / But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong. / Let such as say our sex is void of reason / Know ’tis a slander now, but once was treason” (Lines 79-82). Taken in tandem with “Prologue” this poem helps to show that Bradstreet’s position on women’s worth was consistent.

“In Honour of Du Bartas, 1641” by Anne Bradstreet (1641)

In this poem, Bradstreet lauds French poet Guillaume du Bartas’s greatness in similar ways to “Prologue.” She addresses her own muse’s inability to match him.