"Huswifery" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband" Style Comparison
Throughout the ages writing styles have changed tremendous. One style in particular that has stuck out through time is puritan plain style of writing. This style of writing is characterized by direct statements and simple vocabulary. Examples of puritan plain style can be seen in Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” and Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” While both authors use the puritan plain style of writing, they demonstrate their ideas very differently. Taylor and Bradstreet both feature inversion in their poems.
The poem “Huswifery” contains few examples of inversion. In one case, Taylor writes “Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee” (2). In correct syntax this line would read, “Make thy Holy Worde my Distaff.” Inversion is also seen in the line that reads “My Conversation make to be thy Reele” (5). This line should actually read, “Make my Conversation to be thy Reele.” In comparison to “Huswifery,” “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is full of inversion.
One example is when Bradstreet writes, “If ever two were one, then surely we” (1). With normal word order this line should read, “If there were ever two that were one, it would be us.” Another example is “My love is such that rivers cannot quench” which should actually be written, “Rivers cannot quench my love” (8). Lastly inversion is used in the line “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray” (10). This line should actually be written, “I pray the heavens reward thee manifold.
” Both “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” contain examples of inversion although Bradstreet’s poem uses it more frequently. Both poems contain the use of figurative language although in different forms. “Huswifery” features the use of the apostrophe and metaphor. The poem in its entirety is an example of an apostrophe because the speaker in the poem is talking to God who is not actually there; the speaker addresses God in the line that reads, “Make me, O Lord, thy Spining Wheele compleate” (1). In addition Taylor’s poem features the use of symbolism as he uses the parts of a spinning wheel to represent God’s influence in his life.
For example in the line “My conversation make to be thy Reele,” the speaker is actually referring to how he wants God to make his speak holy. In comparison, Bradstreet’s poem contains little figurative language. An example simile is when Bradstreet compares her love to gold mines in the line that reads “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold” (5). Both poems feature the use figurative language, but Taylor uses an apostrophe and symbolism while Bradstreet uses a simile. On the next point, although both “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” are written in puritan plain style they contain fairly different sentence structure. In Taylor’s poem the length of the sentences change frequently from short to long and back to short.
In the first stanza of his poem, there are two one-line sentences, both containing eight words each, followed by two two-line sentences, both containing sixteen words each. This structure is seen throughout “Huswifery.” In addition, this poem contains no fragments. On the other hand, Bradstreet’s poem exhibits quite different sentence structure. The lines in her poem start out short and grow longer as the poem goes on; this parallels her growing love in the poem. For example, in the first stanza a line contains eight words; in the second stanza a line contains nine words, and in the final stanza a line contains ten words.
Also, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” has many sentence fragments such as “If ever two were one, the surely we” (1). So, it is evident that these two poems contain varying sentence structure although written in the same style. In conclusion, although both poems are written in Puritan plain style, the individual writing styles of the authors differ greatly. Taylor uses little inversion, much figurative language, and varying sentence length and structure in “Huswifery.” In comparison, Bradstreet uses much inversion, little figurative language, and varying sentence length and structure in “To My Dear and Loving Husband.” The influences of puritan plain style as well the individual writer’s thoughts and styles are easily seen in both of these poems.
