Puritanism: The People, Religion, and Poetry Essay -- Religion History

prudeism The People, Religion, and Poetry puritan publications began the American tradition. Though they followed the traditions of European poetry, later American poets continued this adoption from Europe, until innovations led American poetry further away from the standards the prudes had held for poetry. The poetry the Puritans wrote was characterized considerably by their religion. It affected their themes, taken from their everyday lives, but focused on faith and theology. Also, it influenced the degree of community and identity, which bridged the older traditions of community to the growth of individualism down through American history. They also valued logic and considered it an of the essence(predicate) means to learning Gods truth. It was this logic and their concepts of God and how he revealed himself to people, that gave them a squiffy belief in nature as a record to be read, containing the truths they already held. Reading the book of nature was one of the significan t aspects of Puritan poetry that later poets followed until some began to question that there were any unafraid foundations for doing this. Gradually, conceptions about nature and God and perception led poets farther from this Puritan tradition. By the time of modern poetry, understandings about nature, God, and people had been completely changed. Thus, Puritan poetry affected American poetry by providing ideas that could not unaccompanied be followed, but could also be rejected.One of the results of reading the book of nature is the tendency to use metaphors to nature. Use of metaphor extended beyond nature, though. Many Puritan poets used metaphors and extended metaphor often. Their examples were English metaphysical and conceitists poets. Like these poets, the Puritan... ...American Poetry. Ed. Jay Parini. New York Columbia University crush, 1995. pg 50.Taylor, Edward. Upon a Spider Catching a Fly. Columbia Anthology of American Poetry. Ed. Jay Parini. New York Columbia Unive rsity Press, 1995. pg 49Tenth cogitate Lately sprung up in America, The . By a Gentlewoman in those parts. (London Stephen Bowtell, 1650) 3-4. Representative Poetry On-line Editor, I. Lancashire Publisher, Web Development Group, Inf. Tech. Services, Univ. of Toronto Lib. RPO 1997. I. Lancashire, Dept. of English (Univ. of Toronto), and Univ. of Toronto Press 1997. available at http//www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/abrad1c.html. accessed 12/6/01. Winthrop, John. A Modell of Christian Charity. The American Intellectual Tradition, volume I. third edition. Eds. David A. Hollinger and Charles Capper. New York Oxford University Press, 1997.