Bradstreet vs Taylor- Turabian Style
ENGL 201- D05
April 9, 2021
Introduction
The colonial period for literature was the foundation of what it is today in America. Anne
Bradstreet and Edward Taylor were two authors during that time of the colonial era. Their
writings are something in today’s literature that offers a look into the themes of that period and
offers a contrast of the different styles of writing that took place during that time. Their two
popular poems, “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” have similarities and
differences between their themes, characteristics of the period in their work, and narrative
devices.
Theme
The common theme between “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is
unconditional love. Bradstreet’s love was addressed to her husband as stated in lines two through
four of the poem, “If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man,
compare with me, ye women, if you can.”1 Bradstreet talks about a marital love and how lucky
she is to be loved by her husband and be able to love him back. The dominant feeling of
Bradstreet’s poetry is the tension between temporal and eternal values, which is evident by line
12, “That when we live no more, we may live ever.”2 Taylor’s poem speaks of the love between
humanity and God and compares the relationship to that of a spinning wheel and the components
and actions of the wheel. He wants to show his love by telling others about God and bringing
Him more followers, “My conversation make to be thy reele, and reele the yarn thereon spun of
1 Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed
April 11, 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-loving-husband.
2 Jane Donahue Eberwein, Early American Poetry: Selections from Bradstreet, Taylor, Dwight, Freneau,
and Bryant (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1986).
thy wheele.”3 Taylor speaks more of an eternal love, he encourages and gives God all his love
and all of himself to Him in order to receive God’s love back. Both authors speak of a personal,
gratifying and everlasting love that expresses their affectionate relationships.
Characteristic of the Colonial Period
Both Bradstreet and Taylor have several characteristics in their poems that make it
evident they were written during the colonial period. To begin with they both use spelling and
wording that was a product of literature during the 1600s. Bradstreet and Taylor both used
paraphrases of the lament that was routinely included in the Old Testament that appeared during
the sixteen and seventeen hundreds.4 “My love is such that rivers cannot quench,”5 The term
huswifery in 1700s meant housekeeping or daily chores, such as making clothing. Taylor’s poem
using the imagery of a spinning wheel shows that this was prior to the mass manufacturing boom
of clothing. Taylor’s poem was also deeply religious in a time of religious reform. Bradstreet
wrote a traditional love poem that during her time was mostly a male driven form of literature.
Men wrote on inaccessible, far away love as Bradstreet did the opposite and wrote of a close and
in touch love.
Narrative Devices
There are several different forms of narrative devices throughout the two poems of
Bradstreet and Taylor. Down to the rhyme scheme and the structure of the poems themselves
they are alike and different in many ways but there are specific narrative devices that stand out in
the poems. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is very hyperbolic throughout the writing, she
3 Edward Taylor, “Huswifery ,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed April 11, 2021,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46133/huswifery.
4 Jeffrey A. Hammond, The American Puritan Elegy: A Literary and Cultural Study (Cambridge, NY:
Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000).
5 Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed
April 11, 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-loving-husband.
over exaggerates her love for her husband, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, or
all the riches that the East doth hold.”6 She also uses similes in these lines by comparing the love
to riches and gold. Taylor’s whole poem uses the device of imagery, he is painting this picture
that God’s relationship is like a spinning wheel. It is one big metaphorical poem that pairs
different parts of the poem to different aspects and acts of God and the relationship of humanity
and Him. Both poems have apostrophic writing where they both address direct appeals to who
they are writing about. Taylor calls to God by saying, “Make me, O Lord, thy spining wheele
complete.”7 Bradstreet addresses her husband directly as well, “If ever two were one, then surely
we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.”8
Conclusion
It is evident that Bradstreet and Taylor were authors during the same time period. From
the themes of their work, characteristics of that work in the period, and narrative devices it is not
hard to see that they were writing during the Colonial period. It is evident that although the
country was going through some of the same things, not everyone had the same experience and
felt the same during that era. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Huswifery” though
different in context, are very similar in the make-up of the literature and are two important time
pieces for literature during the colonial era.
6 Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed
April 11, 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-loving-husband.
7 Edward Taylor, “Huswifery,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed April 11, 2021,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46133/huswifery.
8 Anne Bradstreet, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” Poetry Foundation (Poetry Foundation), accessed
April 11, 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-loving-husband.
Bibliography
Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation.
Accessed April 11, 2021. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-
loving-husband.
Eberwein, Jane Donahue. Early American Poetry: Selections from Bradstreet, Taylor, Dwight,
Freneau, and Bryant. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1986.
Hammond, Jeffrey A. The American Puritan Elegy: A Literary and Cultural Study. Cambridge,
NY: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000.
Taylor, Edward. “Huswifery .” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Accessed April 11, 2021.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46133/huswifery.
