Adding this particular word in the poem emphasizes and symbolizes her skill as a writer.

She does this a few other times during the poem to reiterate her passion and career.

Here, Bradstreet is reflecting on Du Bartas' poetry and it's effect in society. She misses that she had the inspiration of the muses to help her write this poem and her other poems, like Du Bartas had for this written literature.

The overall tone of the poem is bold, sarcastic, and bitter. As she goes on to explain the sexist differences between the genders, she becomes fired up and more passionate about showing her readers that significant inequality with her male counterparts.

This poem is more of a prayer to God for the safety of her husband compared to anything else. As I commented in one of my previous annotations, Bradstreet loves and cares for her husband immensely, so it makes sense that she could compose a prayer/poem to protect her husband during his travels. Since she had no idea when he'd get there and if he would survive the voyage, she is just sending out a general prayer to ease her uncertain thoughts during his time away. She's putting her complete trust and faith into God to keep her true love safe from danger out on his excursion since she plans to grow old with her husband, like she commented on in her previous poem.

In this poem, Bradstreet confesses and shares her love for her husband. She compares its value and strength to gold mines and heated with passion. She hopes that her love for him is sufficient or equal to the love that he shows towards her. This is because she really cares for him and wants him to be treated well. During the last two lines of the poem, she pledges her unconditional love for her husband, even after they die. Their love--like many others--will be so plentiful and faithful that many people will remember their love story for many years.

Here, Bradstreet is talking about the Nine Muses of Greek mythology. Each one of these muses represents a different form of artistic expression and the inspiration to create. In most cases, people seek out help from the Muses to help start their story. During this time period, Bradstreet was considered the Tenth Muse of the New World, and her first published collection of poems was entitled that. In a way, I see the connection that she purposely made to these innovative women influences. In a way, she's showing the public that women are capable of creating something that will help and benefit the overall population. She's implying that her work is as worthy as the other Muses. She has become more confident in her work compared to the beginning of the poem.

Bradstreet is reaching out to the Nine Muses of Greek mythology for some inspiration for this particular poem and the other poems in her collection. In the third line, she acknowledges that her views and thoughts will not amount to those of other great writers. The last line also shows her humility and somewhat inexperience in her writing, especially since she is trying to seek out the help of a higher entity.

This stanza of the poem is talking about how Bradstreet acknowledges the inequality that exists in her society, even though it's unfair. She reiterates that men have dominance and women cannot measure up to their expectations. Although she accepts the unbalance between genders, she's not happy about it. The last two lines of the stanza is a cry of help to seek appreciation for her work and the work that women contribute to society. Bradstreet is essentially saying: "I know that you don't like that I'm writing for the public, but at least give me credit for my original work."

Here, Bradstreet is talking about the male perception of female intelligence and abilities, or lack thereof. During this time period, females were only seen to take care of domestic responsibilities, the home and their family. Even though women have more potential (as we see in today's society), men could not move past these oppressive thoughts.

The second line in this stanza shows what men believe what women should be doing: sewing. Being a female and a writer during this time was not favored, and many men expressed their opinion. Lines 3-6 continue to show the inequality between genders. Bradstreet explains that even if she were to admit that she wrote the poems, the men in society would not give her credit for her artistic efforts. They will make up some sort of excuse that the written work was stolen or an accident. They couldn't fathom that a women could create a written piece that was worthy of publication.

A league is a form of European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles. In most cases when talking about land leagues, it is generally accepted as 3 statute miles. At sea, a league was three nautical miles.

1 nautical mile = 1.151 land miles

Even though the typical amount of a league is three (land or nautical) miles, it cannot be properly determined in this passage because of the time period.

Grampus was a common name used to generalize orcas, various dolphins, or other toothed whales during this time period. Nowadays, it is a genus that includes Risso's dolphin as its only species. This gives the settlers an idea what how the Indians survived in this foreign world.

This is an example on one today:

In the Bible, the Valley (or Brook) of Eshcol was a place that was famous for its grapes. According to my Youthwalk Devotional Bible: New International Version, in Numbers 13:23-24 it says, "When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried if on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs (23). That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there (24)."

William Bradford is using this phrase as a comparison between the New England people in this foreign land and those in the Valley of Eshcol to show their need and appreciation for food grown in that area-specifically cor in this passage.

This piece was written between 1550-1607, which means that William Bradford spoke Early Modern English. Typically ye is used as an informal second-person pronoun or plural personal pronoun. I doubled checked by using the Oxford English Dictionary and it confirmed it, too. That being said, Bradford is using the word ye as the article the in this text numerous times. I'm confused by this because at what point did the usage of this word change in written and spoken language?