Anne Bradstreet, the poet of In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth, was the first female poet of America who poured her heart out in her literary pursuits echoing the perfect mesh of Puritan thoughts and feminine emotions. Her poems provide an insight into the exuberant feminine self who longs to be free of the imposed passivity and take a flight of freedom and glory. She defied the normative of the age and penned her poems which explore the inner spirit providing it apt expression through her rich vocabulary and panache. This poem in particular is typical of her poetry as it echoes the central theme which is consistent in her collection of poems. In fact, this poem is one of the greatest works of artistic expression by Anne Bradstreet. The poem portrays Queen Elizabeth as the epitome of strength and valor. She is seen as a transcendental figure of authority and capability who reigns supreme over lands. Her success is the befitting reply to the erroneous stereotypical outlook nurtured by the male folk of the society toward the female.
In the poem, In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth, she goes on to write, “Who was so good, so just, so learn'd so wise, / From all the kings on earth she won the prize.” Here, she is drawing a comparison between the previous rulers and The Queen and argues that she excels owing to her intelligence and fairness. She supplements her argument by writing, “She hath wip'd off the' aspersion of her sex, / That women wisdom lack to play the rex;” where she intends to voice with utmost clarity that The Queen has nullified the sexist stereotype and established that women are capacious enough to rule a nation. The poet then describes an instance where The Queen rescued the King of France and thus places her in a position of paramount power above the King and makes him subservient at her pity. Anne Bradstreet defies her own declaration of not talking of wars and writes about the triumph of the navy under The Queen’s rule. The poet writes, “Such captains and such soldiers never seen, / As were the subjects of our Pallas Queen.” She is drawing a comparison between Queen Elizabeth and the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and goes on to speak of the accomplishments during her reign as The Queen.
Thus, the poet undermines the erroneous notion that women have no role in the discussion or occurrence of wars and administration. Throughout her poem she endeavors to convey that the male folk have always stripped the female counterparts of their worthy credits. She goes on to declare vehemently, “Nay masculines, you have thus taxed us long, / But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong.” The poem is typical of her poetry and leaves an everlasting mark on the hearts of her avid readers.
The poem is an apt expression of the aspiring voice of the female who has been obliged by the patriarchal societal structure to embrace passivity and ‘correct femininity’. Anne Bradstreet makes her poem attain universality as she speaks of the potential that lies in the women folk in general through the artistic expression of the immense capability of The Queen. The poem being typical of her poetry is a quintessential work of creative expression which emancipates the unflinching spirit of the human soul and sings the song of triumph of the female folk of the society at large, shattering the hollow male chauvinistic stereotypes from the core.
Works Cited
Bradstreet, Anne. In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen Elizabeth.
