Prologue

Bradstreet’s “Prologue” was written as a preface to the other poems in her collection; as such, it introduces her persona to her readers. The poem also presents an argument about why she desires to speak and is worth being listened to in a world where women did not often have permission or encouragement to communicate their ideas. Her poem negotiates a space between her deference to male writers and her insistence that she, too, might deserve a place on the shelf next to them. 

She begins the poem with an allusion to ancient Roman poet Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid. Virgil begins with his intent to “sing” of “arms and the man” (Virgil. Aeneid, 19 BCE. Book 1, Line 1); his long poem describes Trojan War hero Aeneas fleeing Troy and taking his people to Italy, where he became the founder of Rome. In contrast, Bradstreet states that she will not “sing of Wars, of Captains, and of Kings, / Of Cities founded, Common-wealths begun” (Lines 1-2). Instead, her work is “mean” (Line 3), or small in scope. She is not in competition with the famous “Poets and Historians” (Line 5), and her “obscure lines” (Line 6) do not threaten to “dim their [greater] worth” (Line 6).