Analysis

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The first place to begin an analysis of a poem is with the poem's structure. "Huswifery" is a three stanza poem, and each stanza is comprised of six lines apiece. The rhyme scheme of each of those stanzas is ABABCC. This means that lines 1 and 3 rhyme with each other, lines 2 and 4 rhyme with each other, and the final two lines rhyme with each other.

The poem is written in iambic pentameter. That is a very common rhythm and meter for poetry. What this means is that for each line in the poem, the syllables alternate in an unstressed/stressed pattern. An unstressed/stressed unit is the iambic foot. Each line of the poem contains five of those feet, and that is why the poem is pentameter.

Moving from the poem's structure, consider who the poem's speaker might be. This poem has an unnamed narrator, but it is probably safe to assume that the narrator is Taylor himself. It's a religious poem, and Taylor was a trained minister. The first line of the poem should alert readers to the idea that the narrator is addressing God, and that turns the poem into a very beautiful prayer.

This particular prayer/poem is a prayer of petition. The narrator is requesting that God transform him into something useful that will help glorify God and do some of God's work on Earth. The specific request appears in the third stanza. The speaker would like to be clothed with God-honoring virtues; however, the speaker is willing to be a part of the cloth making process. That is why he specifically asks God to make him into a spinning wheel and loom. Those are machines that transform raw fibers into thread and eventually make the thread into cloth to be used for clothing.

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