“Huswifery” – by Edward Taylor

Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheel complete;
Thy Holy Word my Distaff make for me.
Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neat,
And make my Soul thy holy Spool to be.
My Conversation make to be thy Reel,
And reel the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheel.

Make me thy Loom then, knit therein this Twine:
And make thy Holy Spirit, Lord, wind quills:
Then weave the Web thyself. The yarn is fine.
Thine Ordinances make my Fulling Mills.
Then dye the same in Heavenly Colours Choice,
All pink with Varnished Flowers of Paradise.

Then clothe therewith mine Understanding, Will,
Affections, Judgment, Conscience, Memory;
My Words and Actions, that their shine may fill
My ways with glory and thee glorify.
Then mine apparel shall display before ye
That I am Clothed in Holy robes for glory.

Analysis:

Edward Taylor’s “Huswifery” stands as an early-American example of metaphysical poetry and the use of the poetic conceit. The title is a word that was commonplace in the 17th century but has since disappeared from use except for a remnant in the negative term “hussy” that denotes a lewd or brazen woman. In Taylor’s time, his title was pronounced with a silent “w” and a short “i” and sounded like “hussifry.” It denoted the full range of domestic tasks performed by Puritan housewives. In the poem, those tasks are narrowed to spinning and weaving.

The tone of the opening sentence is prayerful. The poet says, “Make me, O Lord, Thy spinning wheel complete.” The succession of interrelated metaphors explains the poet’s intention in this odd-sounding request. Gradually we see spinning and cloth-making as a figurative expression of the activity of the Master Weaver, who clothes people in grace.

Each part of the spinning wheel is equated with an aspect of spiritual life. The distaff is a piece of wood on which is wound flax or wool that is spun into thread. It is metaphorically equated with the Word of God – the Bible – from which we extract grace. The “affections” or emotional feelings are the “flyers” that twist and make thread from the raw material on the distaff.

The “spool” onto which the thread is wound is the soul of the speaker. The “reel” that holds the finished thread is referred to as the speaker’s “conversation,” by which he means his social exchanges with others. Thus, in stanza one we see the mechanical progression of the word of God becoming the grace necessary for salvation.

In the next stanza we proceed from spinning wheel to loom. On the loom the thread of God’s word is woven into cloth. God, who operates the loom, winds or turns the “quills” (hollow tubes onto which the yarn is wound) and produces a web of cloth from the myriad threads. God’s ordinances (laws and sacraments) act as “fulling mills” that cleanse the cloth and prepare it for dyeing and decorating with designIn the concluding stanza the speaker asks God to garb or outfit him in raiment made from the newly spun and woven cloth. Once attired in this glorious garment, the speaker will be able to give God glory in return.

HT: Helium