1. Lecture notes for Bradstreet, Taylor and Sewall
1. Bradstreet
1. General
1. Relation to previous readings in Bradford
1. Role of women and family
2. Basic survival--world of The Tempest and the colonies and Genesis
3. Educated pioneers
2. Puritan perspective--no temple architecture, no priests, freedom/liberty, back to early church, reformation
3. Hard primitivism, simplicity of language
4. Female perspective--imagery, care for family and husband, conjugal love as central drama
5. New England and old England
2. Author to her book
1. Birth, child-rising, life cycle--children leave home
2. Modesty and rebelliousness
3. Anxiety and simplicity
3. In reference to her children
1. Chickens metaphor--relate to the flea
2. Compare to 'Metaphysical" wit
3. Which style do you like better
4. Family matters--mothers anxiety about offspringdesire to teach
5. Prospect of heaven; full satisfaction vs. departure and grief and loss
4. Prologue
1. Male epic and war and pretentiousness vs. disparaged female
2. Bitter, ironic tone about male dominance and females suppression especially female authors
3. Sarcastic, self-disparaging ending
5. Dear and Loving Husband
1. Love secular and divine; puritan celebration of marriage as union of romantic and spiritual love; a foretaste of love in eternity
2. Compare Milton's puritan view of marriage vs. Courtly, petrarchan or purely spiritual -- Donne/Herbert--love
6. Burning of our house
1. Making sense of accidents
2. House as central metaphor--human house and house of the lord
3. Structure: from narrative/moral to discontent and complaint to renunciation and celebration
4. Nostalgia of loss in second section; enthusiasm of final expectation
7. A Dialogue between New and Old England--Puritanism, "fundamentalism," and politics
1. Mother daughter framework; highly familial and personalized history and politics
2. Biblical and visionary framework leading to another apocalyptic conclusion
3. Prophetic attack on the pagan, pharisaical, idolatrous Papists and their allies the Anglicans and royalists
4. Praise of the Parliamentarians
5. Old England suffers from sorrows of war; New England eggs her on to more militant behavior.
2. Edward Taylor: 1642-1729
1. Bio
1. Leaves England in 1668 to escape Restoration demands for religious conformity
2. Goes to Harvard and after graduation takes up ministry in small rural parish; marries twice; verse not published
3. Considered metaphysical poet--similarities to Donne and Herbert, contrasts to Bradstreet
2. Meditation 1
1. Tight lines and stanzas
2. Ardent spiritual-erotic focus on God as love
3. Theological paradox of God not satisfied and making humanity his bride
4. Plays throughout on water and flame, heaven and hell
5. Asking to be inflamed/aroused by god
3. Let Him Kiss Me with the Kisse of his Mouth
1. Focus on Canticles=song of Solomon, vrse 2
2. Spiritual erotic desire
3. Paradox--Riddle--asking god to solve it--how one of the elect--Calvinist predestined for salvation--can lack satisfaction in this world
4. Answer to "Sir"--you couldnt take full love of god in this life; Christ wont show let you see Love's "Lovely Arms...cirlce thyself about" on earth
5. Love does "play bow-peep" with me here--hide and seek--to give a foretaste of full pleasure
4. Our Insufficiency to Praise god Suitably
1. Extended thought experiment to play out the idea of infinity to express how much praise god deserves: worlds/men/tongues/songs/tunes
2. The topos of inadequacy as form of elevation
3. Samuel Sewall
1. Friend of Taylor at Harvard, Judge and Magistrate, sat at Salem witch trials and later repented
1. The Selling of Joseph
1. Liberty as central human value for puritans
2. Biblical arguments and objections along with practical ones
3. Joseph story as central
4. Manifestation of religion and politics
2. His diary--puritan spiritual and practical journaling