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Before the Birth of One of Her Children by Anne Bradstreet

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Written on the eve of childbirth, Anne Bradstreet reaches out to her husband, preparing for the possibility that she might not survive the delivery.

Poet
Anne Bradstreet
Core theme
Family
The PoemFull text

Before the Birth of One of Her Children

Anne Bradstreet

All things within this fading world hath end, Adversity doth still our joys attend; No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet, But with death's parting blow are sure to meet. The sentence past is most irrevocable, A common thing, yet oh, inevitable. How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend, How soon't may be thy lot to lose thy friend, We both are ignorant, yet love bids me These farewell lines to recommend to thee, That when the knot's untied that made us one, I may seem thine, who in effect am none. And if I see not half my days that's due, What nature would, God grant to yours and you; The many faults that well you know I have Let be interred in my oblivious grave; If any worth or virtue were in me, Let that live freshly in thy memory And when thou feel'st no grief, as I no harmes, Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms, And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains Look to my little babes, my dear remains. And if thou love thyself, or loved'st me, These O protect from stepdame's injury. And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse, With some sad sighs honor my absent hearse; And kiss this paper for thy dear love's sake, Who with salt tears this last farewell did take.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

Written on the eve of childbirth, Anne Bradstreet reaches out to her husband, preparing for the possibility that she might not survive the delivery. She asks him to cherish her virtues, overlook her faults, and shield their children from a future stepmother. This piece feels like a heartfelt love letter blended with a will. Its blend of tenderness and practicality gives it a deeper impact than a purely emotional goodbye could achieve.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. All things within this fading world hath end, / Adversity doth still our joys attend;

    Editor's note

    Bradstreet begins with a fundamental truth: everything in this world is fleeting, and suffering often lurks behind happiness. Her tone is calm and straightforward, setting the stage for the deeply personal fear she is about to reveal. This isn’t drama; it’s a sincere reflection on the nature of life before she dives into her own experience.

  2. No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet, / But with death's parting blow are sure to meet.

    Editor's note

    No bond, no matter how loving, can escape death. Bradstreet softly reminds her husband that even their marriage — one of the warmest in colonial American literature — will eventually be broken. The term "friend" is important here: she refers to her husband as her dearest friend, revealing much about her view of their relationship.

  3. The sentence past is most irrevocable, / A common thing, yet oh, inevitable.

    Editor's note

    Death is a verdict we all receive at birth — it's unavoidable, with no chance for appeals. The term "sentence" feels heavy, as if mortality is a law of nature. The tiny word "oh" is the only sign of her breaking composure here, and it carries a lot of emotional weight in an otherwise unyielding statement.

  4. How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend, / How soon't may be thy lot to lose thy friend,

    Editor's note

    Now she makes it personal. She’s no longer discussing death in the abstract — she’s referring to her own death, which could be just days away. Childbirth in the 17th century posed a genuine and significant risk to the mother’s life, and Bradstreet was acutely aware of this. The repeated phrase "How soon" brings a subtle sense of urgency.

  5. We both are ignorant, yet love bids me / These farewell lines to recommend to thee,

    Editor's note

    Neither she nor her husband knows what will happen, but love drives her to write anyway. This is the essence of the poem's message: uncertainty doesn't prevent love from taking action. She's writing not because she expects to die, but because her love for him prompts her to prepare for that possibility.

  6. That when the knot's untied that made us one, / I may seem thine, who in effect am none.

    Editor's note

    The "knot" represents the marriage bond. If she dies, she will no longer be legally or physically his — "in effect am none" — but she wants to stay connected to him in spirit and memory. It's a painful distinction: she's already contemplating her own absence as something to be dealt with.

  7. And if I see not half my days that's due, / What nature would, God grant to yours and you;

    Editor's note

    She knows she might die young—before reaching her natural lifespan—and prays that God grants her children and husband a long life that she may not have. There's no bitterness in her words, just a heartfelt wish for those she'll leave behind.

  8. The many faults that well you know I have / Let be interred in my oblivious grave;

    Editor's note

    She asks her husband to bury her flaws along with her body so that they can be forgotten. "Oblivious" in this context means "causing oblivion" — the grave erases everything. This shows her genuine humility: she doesn’t pretend to be perfect and trusts that her husband knows her completely, including her faults.

  9. If any worth or virtue were in me, / Let that live freshly in thy memory

    Editor's note

    The other side of the previous thoughts: she hopes that whatever was good in her will remain alive in his memory. The word "freshly" is beautiful—she wants to be seen as something vibrant and current, not a dusty, fading memory. The idea of virtue outliving the body has Puritan roots, but Bradstreet gives it a personal touch instead of a strictly doctrinal one.

  10. And when thou feel'st no grief, as I no harmes, / Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms,

    Editor's note

    She envisions a future where he has moved past his grief — and she finds peace as well, feeling no fear of death. Still, she asks him to continue loving her. The image of lying in his arms makes her otherwise abstract request feel warm and tangible.

  11. And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains / Look to my little babes, my dear remains.

    Editor's note

    "Repaid with gains" is often interpreted as a nod to her husband's remarriage. She's not denouncing it—she seems to accept it as a possibility—but she seizes this moment to express her most pressing plea: safeguard the children. Referring to them as "my dear remains" is powerful; they represent what she leaves behind, the tangible evidence of her existence.

  12. And if thou love thyself, or loved'st me, / These O protect from stepdame's injury.

    Editor's note

    The fear of a harsh stepmother was a genuine concern during a time of high maternal mortality and rapid remarriage. Bradstreet isn't pointing fingers at anyone specific; instead, she's tapping into her husband's love for her and for himself as motivations to protect the children. The "O" represents a heartfelt, vulnerable appeal.

  13. And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse, / With some sad sighs honor my absent hearse;

    Editor's note

    She envisions him reading this poem after she's gone, wishing for just a few heartfelt sighs — no need for elaborate mourning, just genuine emotion. "Absent hearse" is a powerful phrase: the hearse represents her body, which will no longer be there. The poem itself turns into a sort of memorial artifact.

  14. And kiss this paper for thy dear love's sake, / Who with salt tears this last farewell did take.

    Editor's note

    The poem concludes with a simple action: kiss the paper. She's inviting him to see the page as a stand-in for her presence, much like you would press your lips to a photograph. The phrase "salt tears" reveals that she was crying while writing. This raw, intimate ending gives the entire poem a sense of something personal and hidden, as if you've stumbled upon it in a drawer.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is calm and loving, yet there's an undercurrent of genuine fear. Bradstreet maintains her composure — this isn't a poem filled with wailing or despair — but the emotion seeps through in subtle moments: the "oh" in line six, the "O" before "protect," the salt tears at the close. She writes like someone who’s trying hard to be practical about something that frightens them. There's also a profound tenderness toward her husband throughout; this is a poem by someone who truly loves the person she's speaking to.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The knot
The marriage bond. Bradstreet describes death as "the knot's untied," suggesting that instead of simply ending the union, death undoes something that had been meticulously tied together. This imagery evokes a domestic, hands-on feel for a profound, metaphysical event.
The grave as oblivion
She refers to her grave as "oblivious" — suggesting it brings forgetfulness. The grave doesn't merely contain her body; it wipes away her flaws. This aligns with a Puritan belief that death purifies, yet Bradstreet transforms it into a deeply personal, almost compassionate act of forgetting.
The paper / this verse
The poem acts as a tangible representation of Bradstreet's body and presence. When she requests her husband to kiss the paper, the written page transforms into a relic—something to hold onto when she's no longer there. The poem serves as both a farewell letter and a substitute for her self.
Salt tears
The tears she sheds while writing are "salt" — this word highlights their realness. They make the poem feel like true grief, not just a writing exercise. Salt also hints at preservation, subtly reflecting her desire to be remembered.
The children as "remains"
Calling her children "my dear remains" presents them as her enduring presence after death — her biological legacy. This term typically refers to a corpse, so using it for living children feels both shocking and profoundly touching.
The absent hearse
A hearse without a body—or a body that will be gone by the time he reads the poem. The hearse represents her physical presence, and asking him to honor it with sighs means asking him to grieve something he can no longer see or touch.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Anne Bradstreet was the first published poet in colonial America, and she wrote this poem in the mid-17th century, likely during one of her many pregnancies. She had eight children and survived each birth, but maternal mortality was a real and constant danger in Puritan New England. Women often died in childbirth, and it wasn’t uncommon to prepare for such eventualities. Bradstreet’s Puritan faith influenced her perspective — she viewed death as part of God’s plan — yet her poetry reveals a woman who cherished her earthly life and her husband profoundly. Her husband Simon was a notable figure in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and their marriage was, by all accounts, unusually warm for that time. This poem belongs to a tradition of "farewell" or "legacy" verse, but what makes it stand out is its personal and candid tone, in contrast to the more formal examples of the genre.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

She wrote it before giving birth, at a time when the risks of dying in childbirth were clear and significant. It reads like a farewell letter in verse — directed to her husband, sharing her wishes for what she wanted him to remember, how she hoped to be remembered, and how she wanted their children to be cared for if she didn’t make it.

Adjacent texts in the archive

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night — Dylan ThomasBecause I Could Not Stop for Death — Emily DickinsonOne Art — Elizabeth BishopCrossing the Bar — Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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