The love poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Huswifery” seem, on the surface, to be equally emotional and heartfelt. The author of “Huswifery,” Edward Taylor, reflects on the topics of domesticity and faith. “To My Dear” is written by Anne Bradstreet and addresses the same topics although more directly. While both Taylor and Bradstreet use the Puritan Plain style of writing, they demonstrate their ideas very differently.












In each poem, “Huswifery” and “To My Dear,” inversion is used to show emphasis. In “Huswifery,” Taylor uses inversion as well as apostrophe, a literary device used when the subject is imaginary or absent, to separate certain details of a line or show the subject when it is not obviously seen. One example of inversion is when Taylor writes, “Make me, O Lord, the spinning wheele.”(Taylor 1). This quote puts “make me” in front instead of saying, lord make me the spinning wheel. (Taylor 1). Bradstreet also uses inversion throughout his poem. One example of the inversion, used in the last stanza, is when Bradstreet pleads to “in love let’s so persevere.” (Bradstreet 11). In modern English it would have been written, let us persevere in love. Both poems use inversion to add depth and convey their messages clearly.









These poems are both excellent in that they both use copious amounts of figurative language. One piece of figurative language Bradstreet uses is imagery to communicate the extent of her love. Bradstreet goes on to say that she prizes her husband’s “love more than whole mines of gold.” (Bradstreet 5). This exhibits the extent of her love by comparing him to gold. Taylor’s poem was one large extended metaphor mixed with imagery. Besides the one obvious metaphor, one example of imagery is “Heavenly colours choice, all pinkt with varnish flowers of Paradise.”(Taylor 11). This line shows the beauty he sees in the finish product of his life with God. In both “Huswifery” and “To My Dear” figurative language is eloquently written and supports the main ideas.














While the inversion and figurative language are similarly use the sentence structure is completely different. In “Huswifery,” the poem contains mostly short simple sentences in the beginning, with the average being about seven to eight words. Taylor’s sentences then grow longer towards the end, some becoming complex sentences. Bradstreet’s first two stanzas are written with three complex and three compound sentences in no particular order. The last stanza of Bradstreet’s poem is compiled exclusively of simple sentences. The way these poems are structured, show insight towards each writer’s individual syntax and style beyond its Puritan basis.












While both authors use Puritan style and similar topics as mediums for their ideas they, when juxtaposed side by side, are extremely different. However, both poems would considered be considered odd in modern day. “Huswifery” is about a man begging to give away his freedom, as evidence from the extended metaphors which symbolizes his life. The entire basis of Bradstreet’s poem can be queried whether her love is true or obligatory because of the Puritan’s culture, also the sentence structure seems to be designed to persuade him to love her by making it feel obligatory and promising a reward in heaven. These are prefect paragons of Puritan poems; “Huswifery” and “To My Dear,” stick solely to their plain style yet show complexity in vastly different ways.