Anne Bradstreet

I found Bradstreet to be an interesting character. She is much more educated than the other Puritan women, and she is one of the few or probably the only Puritan, woman writer that I've ever encountered.  I found it refreshing that she wrote about things close to her, such as her husband or her children.  This type of writing differs from the pieces about "savages" or the indigenous peoples of America.  
I really enjoyed her poems about Queen Elizabeth, although I found it ironic that a Puritan would write a eulogy about an English monarch.  In her poem "In Honor of That High and Mighty Princess," she talks about how the symbol of Elizabeth would live on beyond her death.  For Bradstreet, I think Elizabeth provides a sort of role model figure.  She was an intelligent, powerful woman who held her own in a world of men.  Elizabeth had many well know speeches and like Bradstreet, she was well educated. The reader can tell that Bradstreet really values her education citing Minerva, goddess of wisdom for example. 
  Bradstreet mentions the symbol of the phoenix several times in the passage.  It's a resilient image, and I think it is one that inspires hope in people.  This is especially needed where massive deaths occurred and 3 out of 4 people died.  I also think that Bradstreet kind of suggested that she is a phoenix as well.  She writes about her skepticism and then her finding her faith.   
Most of these poems seem like a private conversation.  She usually addresses one person or thing specifically.  This kind of writing style gives us an interesting dialogue between her and her addressee.  It's interesting to think that these were probably not meant for publication or to be read by a broad audience.  I almost felt a bit intrusive to read things she wrote to her family.  The boundary of what's private and what is public is really blurred with these kinds of pieces.  I guess that's what makes Bradstreet's works so intriguing.  I have to think "are we meant to see this?"  I feel that the works published to the public have a filter to them while the works the are private are more telling.