Edward Taylor (1642 1729)

EDWARD TAYLOR (1642 – 1729)

Renaissance humanist (values dignity of man., but E.T. does not set man above God as measure of all things) -- poet, preacher, medical doctor, theologian.

Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth State / Restoration (1640 - 1660)

The Great Escape: approximately 2500 clergy of Dissenter theology left England around 1662.

Taylor is a learned man ~ Harvard degree / huge library ~ science, medicine, theology, Bible commentaries

Westfield pastorate (1671)

King Philip’s War

Discussion questions for Edward Taylor

Poems for Discussion "Prologue" Med. 8e 1st series, Med. 7, 2nd series, and "Upon Wedlock and the Death of Children"

What are Taylor’s attitudes toward poetry in "Prologue”? How does this poem reflect his Puritanism? What is the effect of the diction in lines such as "If it its pen had of an angel’s quill"? Is Taylor interested only in the process of writing poems as part of his meditations before church services, or does he also have an interest in the product?

How does Taylor revivify end reawaken his feelings in Med. 8? What is "the Living bread"? How does Taylor manipulate this image in his poem? What relationship does he present between God and humans?

What is typology? In what ways does Taylor present Joseph as a type for Jesus in Med. 7? Who was Joseph and what elements of his story are used in this poem? What does the last stanza assert? Is it an appropriate closure for the poem?

How does Taylor’s attitude toward marriage and children compare to Bradstreet’s? Does it surprise you? How does he confront doubt and grief? Is his response convincing?

Are Taylor’s poems peculiar? If so, why? Some Notes:

Taylor wrote three types of verse:

Apocalyptic, e.g. "God's Determinations"

Miscellaneous ~ curious events, '''providential occurrences," allegorical interpretations of natural events

Meditations - private prayers in preparation of sermons and communion; private dialogues with God (perhaps too private for publication)

Taylor wrote in an ornate style - strong, vigorous lines, often choppy

Had a talent for obscurity

Emphasis upon psychological states

Parallel of conceits / extensions of metaphors / symbols

Rejects allusions to mythology and contemporary poetry

For the “Prologue” and many of the Meditations, Taylor uses a three part structure:

Expresses a desire to write

Laments inability to write

Affirms the process and

He is seeking the perfect preparation for offering the Lord’s Supper, not a perfect poem.

For the Meditations:

All of the poems use a six line stanza

The opening stanza sets up the subject of the meditation

The final stanza contains a prayer of praise and petition

The stanzas in between often draw upon a narrative familiar from the Bible or from the emblem books

Taylor loved puns and word play; he also liked to use irony and paradox.

He is often described as a folk-poet because of his use of homely images and archaic poetic forms.