In scene 1, line 73, mercutio says: “tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk? ” mercutio wants tybalt to—

john berryman and anne bradstreet are connected through a literary and artistic interest of the first writer in the works of the second one. separated by centuries, these two writers are linked by john berryman´s very long poem: "homage to mistress bradstreet", which was published in 1956. although the inspiration for this poem is the narration of the story of anne bradstreet, an english puritan woman and poet, who embarked with her father and husband with john winthrop in the arabella, to reach american soil, the real purpose seems to be the mirroring, through bradstreet´s story, of the difficulties faced by john berryman during his lifetime.

anne bradstreet, as mentioned before, was an english poet who was married to simon bradstreet. both of puritan religious beliefs, she, her husband and her father decided to undertake the voyage to the american colonies and settled in the puritan colony of massachusetts. her life takes a radical turn from the one she led in england and she faces a much harsher life in the colonies from the stricter puritan views of the leaders of the settlement. the first american poet, becomes rebellious and she even starts having affairs outside of her marriage.

in the case of john berryman, he dedicated his life to studying different poetic styles and he became interested, almost to the point of idolizing, on anne bradstreet. in "homage to mistress bradstreet", berryman uses the difficulties and the story of the american woman to showcase the history of american colonialism, but also, it becomes a portrayal of his own dilemmas regarding marriage, fidelity and the belief in a supreme god. he was an alcoholic and in the end, he took his own life after a difficult battle with both depression and alcoholism.