Huswifery

Chelsey Wilkins 9/09/09



The poem “Huswifery” was created by Edward Taylor in the simple, plain style of writing. During Taylor’s era, it was likely of most writers to be simple just jump to the point which Taylor did in his poem. Inside Taylor’s straight forward style writing, he managed to appeal to a couple parts of the rhetoric triangle. He used man examples of figurative language and showed a lot of pathos about his subject.


Figurative language would be defined as a word or phrase that depicts from the literal everyday language to emphasize comparison, relation, or maybe clarity. Taylor used metaphors throughout his piece. He compared sewing a holy robe to requesting God’s help to become fully saved or glorified. He links the two comparisons by appealing to logos. On the account of you should not wear a holy robe unless you are fully slaved which is the condemnation Taylor is requesting.


Throughout the poem, Taylor showed a plentiful amount of pathos. As a Puritan writer, you can assume he is passionate about his religion and wants to be under God’s wings. For instance, Taylor stated, “My words and actions, that their shine may fill; My waves with glory and thee glorify; Then mine apparel shall display before yee; that I am cloathed in Holy robes for glory” noted that Taylor felt that if he took all the needed step to be fully committed to God and his religion it would shine throughout allowing him to be eligible to wear the Holy robe.


“Make me thy loome then, knit therein this Twine; and make the Holy Spirit, Lord, wind quills; then weave the web thyself. The yarn is fine.” This piece of the poem shows more of Taylor’s pathos in the poem. Not only does it show that he is passionate about his religion but it also shows how dedicated he is t achieving his goal whether it is becoming an “elect” or just living his life as a saved man. This piece shows that Taylor even showed the initiative to stop and think of not only what materials he would need to physically create his Holy robe but also the mental steps and guiding he was goion to need to acquire from God.

To conclude, Edward Taylor is a Puritan writer. He wrote a poem expressing his need to become saved and his need for assistance from God. Taylor appealed to a couple parts of the rhetoric triangle. He used a metaphor comparing physically sewing a Holy robe and the steps he would need to take to be eligible to wear the Holy robe mentally.