The parenthetical aside “(in print)” reminds the reader that she is talking about a piece of writing, not an actual child. This reminder comes directly before the speaker’s most audacious claim that she would “cast thee,” or throw away, this child because she did not like it—a claim that might otherwise make the speaker unsympathetic to her audience.
Notice that Bradstreet uses conventional gender roles from her time period in order to create an extended metaphor comparing her book to a child. In 17th-century Puritan society, women’s duty in society was primarily to bear and raise children. Here, Bradstreet conceptualizes her book as a child in order to express her close relationship with her work, its importance, and also to frame her argument in terms that her audience might understand.
