Huswifery and to My Dear and Loving Husband
In Taylor’s poem Huswifery and Bradstreet’s epistle To My Dear and Loving Husband both use metaphors and rhyme scheme to discuss the role of servitude of a wife. Taylor uses both metaphors and rhyme scheme to emphasize his point that just as a wife works to serve her husband, god will help those who desire to exalt him. Taylor throughout his poem uses the metaphor of a loom to compare himself to the spinning wheel to demand to God that Taylor be used, much like a man would demand his wife to do something. Taylor continues to use a weaving/spinning metaphor to emphasize that the demand to God, is a duty God must do much like making cloths is in the context of a wife’s job in the household. The title in Taylor’s poem itself is a metaphor to God to be the Huswife/housewife of the puritan world and make Taylor useful. Taylor also uses rhythm scheme to emphasize God’s service to Taylor by using a AB, AB, C,C rhyme scheme as a rhythmic action of spinning wool. This in itself tells God to obey Taylor and make him into a tool for God and that Taylor will praise him. The role of God in Taylor’s point of view is that God is here to serve the general public, much like a wife would do for a husband, as long a they praise him. Bradstreet on the other hand uses metaphors and rhythm scheme to restate her love for her husband and emphasize that love is unconditional and undying. Bradstreet in To My Dear and Loving Husband, uses nature as a primary metaphor in her epistle. The use of rivers as an example that a women as a wife could never have another man take away the love of her husband. Another example is her metaphor of the mines and gold, presenting that she loves him more than material wealth. Bradstreet’s emphasis of metaphors become exaggerated showing the large amount of love Bradstreet has for her husband. Bradstreet also uses rhyme scheme to over exaggerate her love toward her husband. Bradstreet uses couplets to show the unity of her and her husbands relationship