Edward Taylor: Huswifery

Diary:Dear lord please embrace yourself in every aspect of my body. Make all of my actions, decisions, and words reflect you. I want to be guided by you sequentially to make me all that I can. I want to resemble you in everything that I do. I know with you as my guldens tool I will receive not only your grace but also the opportunity to be all that I can.

-Edward Taylor

Reflection: While the poem “Huswifery” is about a man’s prayer for God’s grace, it took me several readings of this poem to understand the message. One of the most outstanding parts of the poem is the author’s use of metaphor as he compares his struggle to receive God’s grace to the time consuming task of making cloth on a spinning wheel. Once we discussed this in class, I found the way Taylor compared himself to a spinning wheel and all the aspects of the spinning wheel to receiving the grace of God to be a very interesting comparison device. After understanding this comparison I realized the importance of God in this mans life, through the importance of different parts of the spinning wheel.

Mimic:

I am thy lord the seed you have planted and forgotten
Make me grow to be the tallest tree in fall
Your words are to be my roots
Make my roots the sturdiest of all
My branches are what you make of me
Make my branches brighten

Cover my roots with the finest soil
Make them grow longer then any other
And reach and touch the others

From your words my roots will have grown
And make I grow beneath your sun, and rain
Make my branches sturdy and flow with the pace of your wind
My branches will be so beautiful I will inspire others
To grow from only the finest roots