Essay Comparing Anne Bradstreet And Edward Taylor

In early puritan American society emotional and spiritual withdrawal was deemed unacceptable by society. The unacceptable nature of puritan society led to many searching for an outlet for their overwhelming negative emotions of loss and spiritual shortcomings. From this unaccepting era emerged several poets, among them, Anne Bradstreet, and Edward Taylor. Although Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor both coped with emotional turmoil and spiritual struggles through poetry they used different literary devices, had different roles in society, and both used poetry to meet the strict expectations of the strict society. In Edward Taylor’s harrowing poem, “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children”, he shines light upon the horrendous emotional struggles

These words, that suggest such agony, are used to describe his children. Instead of referring to endearingly, he begins to associate them in a negative manner, revealing the bitter, unresolved emotions that were worsened by the strict puritan society. Throughout his poem Taylor becomes increasingly gloomy, bitter and beaten down, these feelings transmit onto the reader and continues to show his emotions toward the strict society. Since Edward Taylor had no intended audience in mind when writing his poem, his true, raw emotions are revealed, further indicating his emotional state. Besides using diction Taylor uniquely uses apostrophe, to show his frustration with god. He uses apostrophe in lines thirty-nine through lines forty-two, when giving god the permission to take his children. Along with emotional hardships, spiritual struggles were often handled with as well. As if living in a harsh puritan society was not enough for Taylor, who was a puritan minister and the town doctor. With these occupations, it would not be farfetched to assume Taylor began to blame himself for the tragic losses of his children’s