Taylor vs. Bradstreet

Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” and Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband” both are written in Puritan plain style, however Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” displays a more puritanical message. These poets use apostrophe and metaphors to thoroughly describe the subject in which they were writing. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is a poem that portrays Anne Bradstreet’s thoughts on her marriage. While Bradstreet writes about her love for her husband, Edward Taylor writes indirectly about his love for God in his poem, “Huswifery.”
Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker addresses an inanimate object, idea, or in this case an absent person. Taylor wrote, “Make me they Loome then, knit therein this twine: And make thy Holy Spirit, Lord, winde quills.” Taylor is addressing God by asking him if he could help God create his own Holy robe. Anne Bradstreet also addresses God by asking Him to reward her husband for loving her well by making him part of the elect. She writes, “Thy love is such I can no way repay. The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray,” (Bradstreet).
Anne Bradstreet uses metaphors to compare her love to many things. Bradstreet comments, “My love is such that rivers cannot quench, nor ought but love from thee give recompense.” She compares her love to gold, meaning that it is rich; then later compares her love to rivers, meaning there are no boundaries. While Bradstreet uses different metaphors, Edward Taylor uses a much longer, descriptive metaphor, known as a conceit. The conceit compares Taylor’s everyday actions and words to every stitch and spoole needed to sew together his Holy robe that allows him into the elect. He writes, “And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee. My Conversation make to be they Reele, and reele the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheele” (Taylor).
Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” depicts a more puritanical message. Bradstreet makes the impression that she only wants for her husband and herself to become part of the elect, so