Point of View

This poem is written in the first-person point of view using the pronouns “I” and “My”: “offspring of my feeble brain” (Line 1). This is an example of apostrophe, in which a speaker directly addresses someone or something who can not respond. This “I” pronoun is consistent throughout, highlighting the way the speaker struggles to process her experience of first publication. Although the subject of the poem is metaphorical, the speaker exhibits clear stress and exhaustion at her numerous attempts to clean, dress, and polish her child. It’s only towards the final lines that the perspective moves into something more like second person as the speaker shifts their attention to the book whom they’re addressing. Here, the speaker uses “her” to refer to herself instead of “me”, communicating a subtle shift in focus.

Language and Meaning

“The Author to Her Book”, written in the...