A review by jonjeffryes
Homage of Mistress Bradstreet by John Berryman

3.0

I feel like I would have gotten more out this poem series if I knew more about the life and/or work of Mistress Bradstreet. After reading the poems (or poem...I'm never sure with books like this) I read the notes, and then went back and revisited portions of the text and they made more sense. Then I went to Wikipedia and skimmed a quick bio of Bradstreet and more pieces fell into place. On its own I thought Berryman did a nice job of bringing the hard realities of the colonist's existence to life...but I did find the amount sexuality (or at least what I read as the sexuality...I can never tell if I just have a gutter mind) surprising for a poem about pilgrims. I also like Berryman's syntax...it was kind of like reading Latin.