Kristy White - Missouri State University
Kristy White
ENG 350
Abstract
Abstract
Simmons’ article, “Taylor’s Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children,” supports the idea that Edward Taylor’s choice of plants in his garden “knot” (another term for a formal garden) has personal as well as political significance (17). In the article, Simmons argues that the primroses, cowslips, roses, lilies, violets, and pinks all work to tell the reader about Taylor’s personal life as well as the political situation between England and the colonies. Although fairly short, she presents a well-organized and coherent argument.
The first subject addressed in the article is the idea that Taylor’s references to particular flowers help to convey the personal losses that he has suffered. Simmons explains that Taylor had two children who died before reaching one year old and that identifying himself with a perennial flower—which continues to live on each year even as its flowers die—was his way of telling the reader about watching his children die as he continued living. Simmons also mentions that Taylor was an amateur botanist so the “choice of these specific plants…has more than a religious significance (Simmons 17). This section of the article supports Simmons statement that Taylor’s flowers carry a significant amount of personal symbolism for him in addition to giving the poem political implications.
The second idea addressed in the Simmons’ article is that his flower imagery also served to illustrate the relationship between England and the colonies. Simmons argues that Taylor’s cowslips, violets, and pinks—all flowers that are found in the wilderness—are symbolic of the Puritan people living in the wilderness of New England. She goes on to explain that by placing roses, primroses, and lilies, which are found in England, among the wilderness flowers, Taylor is illustrating how the settlers viewed themselves as “Englishmen transplanted in a wilderness” that had associations with both countries. Simmons also mentions that cowslips and primroses are the same flower, although they are referred to only as primroses in England, and that “Taylor’s use of both names suggests the colonists’ attempt to gain a separate identity” from England by emphasizing small differences like this (18). Despite the fact that she pays close attention to word choice in her article, the author seldom uses specific quotes from the poem.
Simmons uses few quotations from “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children” and chooses to focus more of specific images within the poem. Her only acknowledgement to specific phrasing in the poem is that she frequently names the flowers in the order they appear in the poem (Simmons 17, 18). Despite the fact that she quotes little of the text, Simmons interprets the piece thoroughly from two different perspectives.
Simmons takes an historical analysis approach to the text but her article also functions—in a very limited way—as a formalist criticism of the piece. She uses her knowledge of historical events to put Taylor’s poem in context with the time it was created in and from there develops her interpretation of the text. In addition to analyzing the historical context of the poem, Simmons also takes a formalist approach and focuses on specific word choices within the text, such as Taylor’s decision to use both primrose and cowslip to refer to the same flower (18).
In my opinion, Simmons’ article has taken something that many people would consider insignificant—flowers—and by exploring it thoroughly given readers a deeper understanding of Taylor’s poem.
Works Cited
Simmons, Jes. “Taylor’s UPON WEDLOCK, AND DEATH OF CHILDREN.” Explicator 42.1 (1983) :17-18.
Taylor, Edward. “Upon Wedlock, & Death of Children.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature 5th ed. Vol. A. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 480.
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