CRITICISM

Brack Jr., O. M. “Michael Wigglesworth and the Attribution of ‘I Walk'd and Did a Little Molehill View’.” Seventeenth-Century News 28, no. 3 (fall 1970): 41-44.

Contends that Wigglesworth is not the author of the poem, surveying the evidence of multiple editions of The Day of Doom.

Crowder, Richard. “‘The Day of Doom’ as Chronomorph.” Journal of Popular Culture 9, no. 4 (spring 1976): 948-59.

Interprets the poem through the lens of time, noting the verb tenses Wigglesworth uses to create rhythm and meaning in The Day of Doom.

———. “The Uses of Adversity and a Pattern for Living.” In No Featherbed to Heaven: A Biography of Michael Wigglesworth, 1631-1705, pp. 180-207. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1962.

Summarizes how the Wigglesworth used his mental and physical suffering in order to be a convincing example to his readership.

Gummere, Richard M. “Michael Wigglesworth: From Kill-Joy to Comforter.” Classical Journal 62, no. 1 (October 1966): 1-8.

Depicts Wigglesworth as an earnest, concerned pastor to clarify his intent in emphasizing damnation and hellfire in his poetry; criticizes the quality of Wigglesworth's meter and verse.

Murdock, Kenneth B. Introduction to The Day of Doom, Or a Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgement with other Poems by Michael Wigglesworth, edited by Kenneth B. Murdock, pp. i-xi. New York: Russell and Russell, 1966.

Defends Wigglesworth's theology as accepted in his era and suited for his readership; faults the author as a poet but also notes that the simplistic rhymes made the poem and its themes easier to remember.

Reed, Michael. “Edward Taylor and Michael Wigglesworth: Reconciling the Divine and Mundane in the Preparatory Meditations and the Day of Doom.” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 22, no. 3-4 (August 2001): 182-88.

Applies psychoanalysis to the disconnect between Wigglesworth's rough verse and his holy subject; finds it a reflection of the Oedipal nature of Puritanism.

Renaker, David. “A Source of Michael Wigglesworth's Short Discourse on Eternity.” Harvard Library Bulletin 25, no. 4 (October 1977): 493-98.

Compares Wigglesworth's poem with Jeremiah Drexel's Nicetas of 1629 to demonstrate Drexel as source of Wigglesworth's rhyme scheme and meter.

Verduin, Kathleen. “‘Our Cursed Natures’: Sexuality and the Puritan Conscience.” New England Quarterly 56, no. 2 (June 1983): 220-37.

Surveys Puritan writings about sexuality; includes Wigglesworth's Diary among writings by Cotton Mather, Samuel Danforth, and Richard Baxter, Edward Taylor.

Additional coverage of Wigglesworth's life and career is contained in the following sources published by Thomson Gale: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 24; Literature Resource Center; and Reference Guide to American Literature, Ed. 4.