"Diction in Edward Taylor's "Preparatory Meditations

MY TASK IN THIS ARTICLE is not only to consider Taylor's diction at the level of practice but, before that, to supply the basic features of his theory of the function of diction and, afterward, to make some general observations about how Taylor's theory and practice in the Preparatory Meditations differ significantly from that of his contemporaries who published verse in colonial New England. Taylor's theory of the function of language (and accordingly of diction) is religiously motivated: his art is related to his election. The Calvinist artist is first a human being; within that fallen context nothing, including poetry, can ever momentarily succeed without the free gift of God's grace to man, whether he is an artist or not. Hence, his art cannot be worthy of the praise of God unless it is inspired by God's grace. But because man's regeneration is imperfect in this world, artistic success (at least in a Calvinist context) is a limited, fallen, and momentary one. Furthermore, because Deity doth as far transcend Humanity as Infinity [doth] finimtness, and because faculties are as Much too low to Contain adequate Conceptions of the Godhead, as the Godhead is too high to be grasped by the little hand of Humane Understanding, God's Shining Majesty doth stund [Taylor's] minde,/Encramps [his] tongue

Art · Diction · Literature · Poetry · Political Economy and Marxism · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · History