American Poetry Michael Wigglesworth, Edward Taylor, and Essay

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American Poetry

Michael Wigglesworth, Edward Taylor, and Anne Bradstreet can all be classified as American Puritan poets. God makes an appearance in nearly every poem penned by each of these three writers. Yet the poetry of Wigglesworth, Taylor, and Bradstreet differs significantly as well. Bradstreet exhibits neoclassical trends: especially in poems such as "The Prologue," in which the poet refers directly to the Greeks: "shure the ancient Greeks were far more mild." In "The Prologue," Bradstreet also mentions figures from Greek mythology and literature like Calliope. Edward Taylor's poetry is far more Christian in nature and imagery. The first line of "Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children" is "A Curious Knot God made in Paradise." Equally as religious are the poems of Michael Wigglesworth, who makes ample Biblical references in his poem "The Day of Doom." Wigglesworth, Taylor, and Bradstreet represent the common elements in Puritan writing, but each presents the Puritan poetry traditions in their own way.

The poetry of Wigglesworth is steeped in the literal doom and gloom of the Puritan worldview.

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"The Day of Doom" captures the fear of God that Puritans valued so much. The poem is filled with imagery related to the Day of Judgment: "Now Atheist blind, whose brutish mind / a God could never see, / Dost thou perceive, dost now believe, / that Christ thy Judge shall be?" (stanza 8). Wigglesworth's work is written in a rhythm and rhyme scheme that is almost childlike, as the poet tries to create an easily memorizable collection of verses that can be used for Christian indoctrination purposes. Wigglesworth was, after all, a Puritan minister. The goal of "Day of Doom" is to install fear of Judgment into the "Flock of Lambs" that comprises his congregation (stanza 25). "All Sound Believers (Gospel Receivers) / whose Grace was small, but grew" appeals to those whose hearts might be straying from the church. Wigglesworth takes it upon himself to use the medium of poetry, with a rigid rhythm and rhyme scheme,….....

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