Poem Analysis

Shenelle Bridge
6th Period
November 10, 2013
Poem Analysis
Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” and Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear Loving Husband” both portray puritan plain style writing; however, Taylor’s “Huswifery” displays a more traditional puritan message. “To My Dear Loving Husband” is a poem that portrays Bradstreet’s thoughts on her love towards her husband. On the other hand Taylor writes indirectly about his love for God in his poem “Huswifery”. Taylor’s “Huswifery” approaches the notion of domesticity and faith through apostrophe and metaphor, while Bradstreet’s “To My Dear Loving Husband” addresses the same topics in a more direct fashion.
Apostrophe is a figure is a figure of speech where the speaker addresses a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea. Taylor wrote, “Make me they Loome then, knit therein this twine: / And make thy Holy Spirit, Lord, winde quills” (7-8). Taylor is addressing God By asking him if he could help God create his own holy robe. Bradstreet also demonstrates apostrophe by addressing God.   Bradstreet writes, “Thy love is such I can no way repay. / The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray” (10-11). Bradstreet address God by asking if he is able to reward her husband for loving her tremendously by making her husband apart of the elect in heaven. Both poets also portray the use of metaphors. Bradstreet adopts metaphors variously throughout her poem, while Taylor utilizes an extended metaphor.
Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear Loving Husband” practices various writing styles in order to compare her love for her husband to assorted objects. Bradstreet comments, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, / my love is such that rivers cannot quench” (5, 7). Bradstreet correlates her love with gold which could infer that her love is abundant and rich; she also connects her love with a river which could also infer that her love is infinite and has no boundaries. Bradstreet applies metaphors into to...