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Upon The Burning Of Our House, By Bradstreet, Taylor, And Edwards

Decent Essays

When the topic of Puritan literature is alluded to, most literary critics reflect on one similarity: religion. However, Puritan literature is far too complex to characterize the entire category by a single component. Pieces of Puritan literature can differ in a multitude of literary devices. One literary device that distinguishes pieces of literature is the purpose of the author. This difference is shown in the following works: “Upon the Burning of Our House,” by Anne Bradstreet, “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly,” by Edward Taylor, and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” by Jonathan Edwards. Bradstreet, Taylor, and Edwards use literary aspects, such as purpose, to differentiate the common topic of religion. The three selections are similar …show more content…

Although the poems were not written with intentions of publication, Bradstreet and Taylor’s poems are meant to edify the readers. Bradstreet wrote, “A price so vast as is unknown, / Yet by His gift is made thine own; / There’s wealth enough, I need no more, / Farewell, my pelf, farewell, my store” (Bradstreet 49-52). This quote informs the readers that all things belong to God, so an attachment to material items must not evolve. Taylor explains God’s ability to protect His followers from evil through stating, “But mighty, Gracious Lord / Communicate / Thy Grace to breake the Cord, afford / Us Glory’s Gate / And State” (Taylor 42-46). While these selections are didactic, Edward’s sermon is meant to persuade his listeners. Edwards states, “So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell; and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger,...” (Edwards 126). In this quote Edwards attempts to persuade his audience to transform themselves from natural men into new creatures to diminish the anger that God feels towards those who have not been born

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