Submitted by: Submitted by pxpxp
Views: 590
Words: 1456
Pages: 6
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 12/04/2011 05:02 AM
How much do we know about the first settlers? We know that they started to arrive in New England in the first part of the seventeenth century. We also know that many of them were Puritans. From high school history textbooks we know that Puritans were a very religious group that managed to overcome the dangers of a strange land. But who really were those people? How did they live? What did they think and dream about? What were the most important things in their lives? I think that works of seventeenth century Puritans’ authors will help us to answer these questions. Let us take some poems of Ann Bradstreet and Edward Taylor as examples.
Edward Taylor, who for many years was a priest in a small frontier town, left behind many writings. I think that the poem Upon Wedlock and Death of Children shows the poet’s character the best. The poem devoted to two the most important things in Taylor’s life: his family and religion.
From the first lines of the poem we can see a deep love of the author for his wife. He compares their marriage to a “True- Love Knot, more sweet than spice, and set with all the flowers of Grace’s dress” (356). The use of the phrase “more sweet than spice”is very touching, in my opinion, because it shows the Taylors as a normal, loving couple that time after time had some “spicy” moments in their live (356). Nevertheless, they love each other and the poet describes their marriage as a “Wedden’s knot, that ne’re can be untied: no Alexander’s Sword can it divide (356).” Comparing the marriage with a “Gordian Knot,” Taylor shows the strength of the union between his wife and himself (356).
Further on in the poem, Taylor writes about his children. We can see a happiness of the father when the author compares himself with a plant whose “stock […] knotted and manly flower out brake” (357). This is how he describes the birth of his son. And later, “ my [Taylor’s] branch again did knot, brought out another flower” this time the writer speaks about his...