English 251: American Lit. (1600-1865)

INTRODUCTION + READING ASSIGNMENT + WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Assignment 5:
EDWARD TAYLOR

Let's begin the study of Taylor's religious poetry by reading together the "Prologue" to his Preparatory Meditations (pages 332-33). Remember that Bradstreet's poem by the same title had sought to answer the question of whether or not a woman writer can be the equal of men. Taylor goes still further, and asks: Can any writer be equal to God's grace? In the opening lines he is that "crumb of dust" which is nothing compared to God's natural creation ("the earth," "all mountains" and "the crystal sky"), and is nothing, therefore, compared to a "boundless" creator. The second stanza turns still more specifically to the problem of writing, or creating on paper. There, the speaker claims that even should the quill of his pen come from an angel, be sharpened on the most precious stone, and write in pure gold inks, it would still write nothing but errors ("It would but blot and blur, yea jag, and jar") unless God himself both makes the pen and guides the hand of the writer, or "scrivener."

The third stanza lays the speaker's claim to be that writer, that "crumb of dust"; it says that he devotes his writing utterly to God, "unto Thy praise alone." And the fourth stanza follows up this thought. It asks that the inescapable faults of the writing be overlooked and permitted to speak, for only thus can the divine "dust" really "live." Indeed, Taylor's diction takes the idea still further when he says to God: "Thy being slips slipped from Thy crumb of dust." In other words, Taylor is saying that the faults, or "slips," that are part of this divinely created man ("Thy being"), are themselves "slipped" away from that human "crumb." The theme, then, is purification, the salvation of the individual (in this case) through meditative writing. And the concluding stanza rephrases that idea, so that the promise of purification is itself the "proof" or "shine" on all worldly being.

Taylor writes in iambic pentameter lines, which is to say that the rhythm is composed of an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable (the iambic rhythm), in lines of five stresses each: "I am this crumb of dust which is designed." The iambic rhythm feels relatively easy and natural, in English speech; though in English poetry the iambic pentameter line has been traditionally associated with elevated topics, in elegiac, heroic, and epic verse. Moreover, note Taylor's use of six-line stanzas rhymed on an ababcc pattern. In those stanzas, the first four lines (or quatrain) serves to state an idea metaphorically (in stanza 4, for example, man as a crumb of dust whose failings are worth pardoning), so that the closing two lines (or couplet) can drive home a thought about that idea (let slip those faults, those slips of the pen, and the soul can be purified). This is the form he will use throughout the Preparatory Meditations, each written on the theme of a specific passage of scripture, and on a specific problem posed by that passage, all of it meant to prepare the individual for Sabbath Day services.

Taylor's poems each tend to work with a particular extended metaphor, such as the comparison of a man to a crumb of dust in the "Prologue." Reading his poems, focus your attention on the aspects and functions of those metaphors, and how they further his Puritan religious themes. Pay special attention to the ways that Taylor uses the concrete facts of ordinary life to examine the abstract ideas of Puritan theology.

Reading Assignment

Edward Taylor, Preparatory Meditations (Prologue, #8, #16, #38, and #42), "The Soul's Groan to Christ for Succor," "Christ's Reply," "Upon Wedlock and Death of Children," "Upon a Wasp Chilled by Cold," and "Huswifery" (pp. 330-351).

Writing Assignment

Trace the uses, through several different poems, of images of gold developing his religious themes?
In the same way, trace the uses, through several different poems, of images of family. How does Taylor use the family as a source of images for religious themes?
Read "The Soul's Groan to Christ for Succor" and write several paragraphs of exposition and analysis, like that provided (above) for the "Prologue."
Read Taylor's poem, "Huswifery," alongside Ann Bradstreet's poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband." Now, write a brief essay of about 500 words, comparing and contrasting these two poems on marriage. Specifically how does Bradstreet's outlook on the marriage relation differ from Taylor's, yet how do both attach spiritual significance to mortal marriage?

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