Puritan Literature: Edward Taylor's "Huswifery"

Make me, O Lord, thy Spining Wheele compleate.
Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee.
Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate
And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee.
My Conversation make to be thy Reele

And reele the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheele.

Make me thy Loome then, knit therein this Twine:
And make thy Holy Spirit, Lord, winde quills:
Then weave the Web thyselfe. The yarn is fine.
Thine Ordinances make my Fulling Mills.
Then dy the same in Heavenly Colours Choice,
All pinkt with Varnisht Flowers of Paradise.

Then cloath therewith mine Understanding, Will,
Affections, Judgment, Conscience, Memory
My Words, and Actions, that their shine may fill
My wayes with glory and thee glorify.
Then mine apparell shall display before yee

That I am Cloathd in Holy robes for glory.

Lancashire, Ian. "Edward Taylor, Huswifery". Representative Poetry Online. March 26, 2008. http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/3108.html

REFLECTION: Taylor's poem follows a pattern common among Puritan poetry; the writer is first compared to a spinning wheel, then a loom, and finally the clothing created by both. In these comparisons, Taylor is referring to his devotion to God. The speaker is a man who deeply believes in God and observes himself evolving into the product of living in God's hands. In this poem, he is turning himself over to the Lord, asking Him to mold him as He pleases.

DEAR DIARY,

As my days on this new soil grow in number, I know that it is necessary to turn my life over to God. He will protect me from the unknown dangers of this unexplored land. I know that I will not survive these hard times without the protection of the Lord's all-knowing hands. I pray to be molded and taught as He sees fit, and to live under the guidance of He who knows the future. I turn myself over completely, for the job required I cannot complete.

The Question Is...What impact did the decisions and cultures of those who began the American community have on today's modern community setting and life as we know it?: The religiousness of the Puritans, such as Edward Taylor, began the religions that so many of us follow today. So many aspects of life are formed around the concepts surrounding religious issues.