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Edward Taylor, Meditation 43.3

30 Friday Dec 2022

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Edward Taylor, Meditation 43, poem, Poetry, Poetry Analysis

Third Stanza

Pardon and poison them, Lord, with thy blood

Cast their cursed carcasses out of my heart.

My heart fill with thy love, let grace it dub.                                                                  15

Make this my silver studs with thy rich art.

My soul shall then be thy sweet paradise

Thou’st be its rose, and it thy bed of spice.

Notes:

If the Lord should cleanse his heart, his would be a fit place for the Lord.

He again uses the initial accent to drive home the point. This use of the accent makes the plea more intensive. He furthers that intensity with alliteration on the accented syllables:

PARdon and POIison them, Lord, with thy blood

CAST their CURSED CARcasses out of my heart.

The paired “pardon and poison” is an interesting phrase because both words are appropriate to the prayer: He is asking the Lord to (1) forgive him for harboring sin, and (2) destroy the sin in his heart. Thus, pardon and poison are both appropriate. But, this is the only time I have ever seen these two words paired. A check of google n-gram reports no usage of this phrase.

The blood of Christ was shed for the forgiveness of sins. The ninth chapter of Hebrews discusses this doctrine at length. But how does the blood poison sin?  There is a line, I believe it is in Barth’s commentary on Romans, 6th chapter, that grace pulls up sin by the roots.  Pardon for sin is not merely a forgiveness, but a transformation. (Incidentally, this leads us to one of the great controversial issues in Christian theology: What is the precise relationship between forgiveness and transformation, positional and progressive sanctification?)

The act of being reconciled is inconsistent with sin, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Rom. 6:2

The sin having been poisoned would thus be dead and the soldiers now carcasses:

CAST their CURSED CARcasses out of my heart.

I take cursed carcasses to be an allusion to Hebrews 3, which recounts in part the death of the rebellious Israelites following the exodus from Egypt. Those who rebelled were cursed, they were not permitted to enter the promised land and their bodies, carcasses in the Authorize Version used by Taylor, were left outside of the promised land:

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:14–19 (KJV)

He prays that his heart being cleansed of sin may then be properly adorned. It is a space being cleaned and then filled with something better:

My heart fill with thy love, let grace it dub.                                                                  15

Make this my silver studs with thy rich art.

His prayer is that his heart be filled with love and grace (grace being the sanctifying influence of the Spirit).  There is a second movement in the prayer: not merely filled but made into a work of art.  This is one of those self-referential moments in Taylor’s poems where the prayer of the poem is in part manifested by the poem. The poem itself is art: although he reference here is more directly visual art.

This two-step: clean then fill probably is an allusion to this statement from Jesus:

Luke 11:24–26 (KJV)

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

A heart which is cleansed but not filled with something better is in danger. He is praying not merely for forgiveness but for transformation.

His heart being cleansed and made into art will then be a paradise, a garden (paradise means garden):

My soul shall then be thy sweet paradise

Thou’st be its rose, and it thy bed of spice.

Paradise has an interesting reference to heaven:

Luke 23:43 (KJV)

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

But even more to the point of this poem, is the use of the word “paradise” in the passage which is the motto for this poem:

Revelation 2:7–10 (KJV)

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

The imagery here comes from the Song of Solomon, which is an intimate love poem often read allegorically:

Song of Solomon 2:1–2 (KJV)

1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Song of Solomon 6:2 (KJV)

2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

He prays that the Lord be the chief glory of the heart and the heart a fitting place for such a rose.

Edward Taylor, Meditation 43.1

29 Thursday Dec 2022

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Revelation 2:10 (KJV)

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

First Stanza

Fain I would sing thy praise, but fear I feign

My sin doth keep out of my heart thy fear

Damps love: defiles my soul. Old blots new stain.

Hopes hobbled lie, and rusty chains worn clear.

My sins that make me stand in need of thee                         5

Do keep me back to hug all sin I see.

Notes:

Fain: I desire

Feign: I pretend

Fear: a fear of his own sin

Fear: a rightful respect and awe of God

FAIN i would SING thy PRAISE but FEAR i FEIGN

The poem begins with an accented syllable: Fain. That leads to a very quick “I would”, with the accent falling squarely on “Sing.” Interestingly, there is no accent on the word “I” which appears twice in this line. There is assonance on the long “A” of Fain, Praise, Feign. There is alliteration on Fain, Fear, Feign.

Fain I would sing thy praise, but fear I feign

I desire to praise you, but I am fearful that praise would be a mere pretense.  This leads to the question: Why does he fear himself?

My sin doth keep out of my heart thy fear

The fear of himself from the first line appears here in absence: He is fearful of his heart, because his heart does not fear.

The concept of sin will be developed in two directions: First, it is his person sin.  That is an attribute. “My sin” (2) Second, there are individual events, “sin” (5).  Third, there is sin in the abstract, “hug all sin.” (6)

Psychologically: sin and fear of God are inconsistent with one-another.  The lack of fear of God is a characteristic of human rebellion, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Rom. 3:18

This lack of fear is a dreadful symptom, because fear of God is a blessing of the New Covenant,  Jeremiah 32:39 (KJV)  “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them.”

My sin …

Damps love: defiles my soul. Old blots new stain.

What does sin do?  Three clauses. The first two begin with an accented D. The third clause is accented on a B.  The line does not move along easily.

DAMPS love. DEfiles my SOUL. old BLOTS new STAIN

The sounds are spit out: Damp defile blot stain. It sounds with the revulsion Taylor feels at himself.

Hopes hobbled lie, and rusty chains worn clear.

He continues with the negative effects of sin, but now he shifts the sound H/L

HOPES HOBbled LIE and RUSty chain worn CLEAR

The line must be read slowly. Sin destroys and leaves him without hope.

I’m not sure exactly what to make of “rusty chain worn clear”. For a rusty chain to be freed from rust and thus clear, would entail lots of dragging and scraping.

The couplet is the paradox of the Christian life:

My sins that make me stand in need of thee                         5

Do keep me back to hug all sin I see.

We need grace and forgiveness because of our sin. This should cause us to love God for his grace and forgiveness. But sin destroys our love and defiles our conscience. The sin that necessitates God’s grace simultaneously drags us away from God and to our sin.

The nature of addiction works well: The addiction to the drug necessitates the help of others to drag the addict away from the drug: but the desire for the drug draws him back.

The image of hugging sin is perverse. He does not come near sin, he draws it to his chest in a loving manner.

Edward Taylor, Meditation 42.6

19 Monday Dec 2022

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Edward Taylor, Meditation 42, poem, Poetry, Poetry Analysis

Stanza Seven

Adorn me Lord with holy huswifry.

All blanch my robes with clusters of thy graces.

Thus lead me to thy threshold: give mine eye

A peephole to see bright glory chases.

Then take me in: I’ll pay, when I possess

Thy throne and thee the rent in happiness.

Notes

Prepare me and let me see the beauty of the world to come. Then, when I come to it, I will repay that sight with thankfulness.

Adorn me Lord with holy huswifry.

All blanch my robes with clusters of thy graces.

We come to the petition which ends the poem. He first asked to be adorned.

The verb adorn has a perfectly comprehensible meaning here: prepare me. But there is also an allusion to the heavenly new world:

Revelation 21:1–2 (KJV)

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The people of God are referred to as the “bride”. In Hosea, Israel is referenced as a bridge. Hos. 2:2, etc. The church is referred to as the bride of Christ. Eph. 5:25-30

Prepare for this holy service and care. (huswifry)

The robes are “blanced”, that is, made white. We again have an eschatological allusion:

Revelation 7:13–14 (KJV)

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7–10 (KJV)

7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The culmination of history is a wedding, where the bride has been made ready to meet her husband. The poet is asking to be prepared for that wedding.

This helps underscore the importance of marriage as concept in Christianity. While the current sociological aspects are important, so is the eschatological reference. The concept of marriage of importance to human beings to teach of the coming event.

The robes are not merely washed white in blood, but they are further adorned with graces. This leads to another allusion, this time to the robes of the priest to enter the temple:

Exodus 39:22–26 (KJV)

22 And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 23 And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. 24 And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. 25 And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates; 26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Just as the people of God are referred to as the wife, they are referred to as priests:

1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

A priest is one who comes into the presence of God.

Having been prepared, he now requests a sight of what will come:

Thus lead me to thy threshold: give mine eye

A peephole to see bright glory chases.

Before we consider the details, notice that this references back to the beginning of the poem wherein the poet is distressed that his love is insufficient. The love is made active by means of a sight of the beloved. It is an increase in a greater desire for something holy which causes the change in his life.

He is asked to be led to the place of a view and there

to see bright glory chases.

A “chase” is an enclosed park or a hunting ground.  An example of that use of the word would be found in the poem “Chevy Chase”. 

Here the use would be the park, not the hunting ground. The idea would be a closed garden space. The image of a garden runs throughout Scripture. The first couple were placed in a garden. Jesus is buried in a garden tomb. Mary Magdalen mistakes Jesus for a “gardener.” The word “paradise” means garden. The Song of Solomon uses the image of a garden repeatedly for a place of romantic encounter:

Song of Solomon 5:1 (KJV)

1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Thus, Garden combines both eschatological and marriage images.

Then take me in: I’ll pay, when I possess

Thy throne and thee the rent in happiness.

The poet will possess the throne as a “joint heir” with Christ. Rom. 8:17

We end with happiness. Yet to rejoice in the Lord is end of all the other aspects of justification and sanctification. It is to rejoice in being reconciled to and living with our God. We give gifts and hope for the happiness of the one who receives that gift.

Edward Taylor, Meditation 42.5

14 Wednesday Dec 2022

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Stanza Six

Can’an in golden print enwalled with gems

A kingdom rim’d with glory round: in fine

A glorious crown pal’de thick with all the stems

Of Grace, and of all properties Divine.

How happy wilt thou make me when these shall                    35

As a blessed heritage unto me fall?

Notes

The import of this stanza is simple. A glorious kingdom is shown to him as his inheritance. He anticipates how happy he will be when he receives this inheritance.

Canaan was the land promised to Israel. As the promised land it functions as a picture of heaven. Here is an example from Jonathan Edwards, the son of Taylor’s friend:

“But the first possession he had in it was the possession of a burying place, or a possession for him to be in after he and his were dead; which signifies this, that the heavenly Canaan, the land of promise, the rest that remains for the people of God, is a land for them to possess, and abide and rest in, after they are dead.” Edwards, Jonathan. Notes on Scripture. Edited by Harry S. Stout and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 15, Yale University Press, 1998, p. 335.

He compares the sight of Canaan as an image which has been interlaid (enwalled) with gemstones.

Gem stones are used throughout the Scripture as an image of the glory of the world to come:

“This kingdom excels in the riches of it; gold doth not so much surpass iron, as this kingdom doth all other riches; ‘the gates are of pearl,’ Rev. 21:21. ‘and the foundations of it are garnished with all precious stones,’ ver. 19. It is enough for cabinets to have pearl; but were gates of pearl ever heard of before? It is said ‘kings shall throw down their crowns and scepters before it.’ Rev. 4:10 as counting all their glory and riches but dust in comparison of it; this kingdom hath Deity itself to enrich it, and these riches are such as cannot be weighed in the balance; neither the heart of man can conceive, nor the tongue of angel express them.” Watson, Thomas. “Discourses upon Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.” Discourses on Important and Interesting Subjects, Being the Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, vol. 2, Blackie, Fullarton, & Co.; A. Fullarton & Co., 1829, p. 74.

He repeats the image this time as a kingdom of glory.

“In fine” means in conclusion. (Latin, finis)

The image of the kingdom is repeated, as a crown. Grace is made to be the adornment of a crown.

all properties Divine. There are two possible references here. This could be a generic reference to all things divine, pertaining to God, of any sort.

However, “properties” is a technical theological term. For example, this usage by Jonathan Edwards, “COMMUNICATION OF PROPERTIES with respect to the divine and human nature of Christ. Such a communication of properties and characters with respect to Christ in the language of Scripture, which divines suppose to have its foundation in the union of the divine and human natures of Jesus, is not absurd.” Misc. 1219. Properties is an equivalent of attributes.

This second usage means the glory of the world to come which so stirs Taylor’s heart is the nature of God himself. John Piper had a useful meditation on this particular point some years ago. https://www.desiringgod.org/books/god-is-the-gospel

The hope is not some place, as lovely as it may be, but communion with God. This is also known in Christian theology as beatific vision.

“CHAP. XLVI

“The happiness of the beatifical vision discovered

“Secondly, they shall have the Beatifical Vision of God, we shall be where he is, and we shall see his face. Says Christ, Father, I will, that those which thou hast given me, be where I am, that is a blessing; but in Rev. 22:4. it is said, They shall see his face, and that is more, They shall know as they are known,* 1 Cor. 13:12. It is the promise of the pure in heart, that they shall see God: 1 John 3:2. Behold, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know, that when he shall appear,* we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. It is the happiness of the Angels that they behold the face of God; so it shall be the happiness of the Saints to behold the face of God in heaven: As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness, Psal. 17:15. and so we may have the help of divers Scriptures to shew, that this is the happiness of the Saints.” Burroughs, Jeremiah. Moses His Choice, with His Eye Fixed upon Heaven: Discovering the Happy Condition of a Self-Denying Heart. John Field, 1650, p. 535.

This sight is the greatest answer for the human heart.

“tu excitas, ut laudare te delectet, quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te.” Augustine of Hippo. St. Augustine’s Confessions, Vol. 1: Latin Text. Edited by T. E. Page and W. H. D. Rouse, Translated by William Watts, The Macmillan Co.; William Heinemann, 1912, p. 2.

“Because you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.”  Augustine, Confessions, 1.1.1. You can find an analysis of that sentence here. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/an-analysis-of-one-of-the-greatest-sentences-ever-written/

Edward Taylor, Meditation 42.4

10 Saturday Dec 2022

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Stanza Five

He takes them to the shining threshold clear                         25

Of his bright palace, clothed in grace’s flame.

Then takes them in thereto, not only there

To have a prospect, but possess the same.

The Crown of Life, the Throne of Glory’s place,

The Father’s house blanched o’er with orient grace.                        30

Notes

In the last stanza, he prayed that his heart would be opened, that he would be given apparel fitting to wait upon the King, and that such apparel would bedeck his Love, who would come ot the Lord, the King.

In this stanza, the King leads the poet on.

The time and perspective change slightly in this stanza. Rather than speaking directly to God, he seems to be standing at distance from himself and observing the work of the King leading his people to the palace:

He takes them to the shining threshold clear                         25

Of his bright palace,

The “them” must be all others for whom Christ has “prepared a place.” This “place” is now revealed to be a palace.

It is ambiguous as to whom whom is “clothed in grace’s flame.” It could refer to the King who displays the grace of those whom he is bringing to the palace, or it could refer to the subjects of the King who have received the grace. In line 29, Taylor references “the Throne of Grace” which is the place from whence the Lord dispenses grace. I would think the reference is best fit to the subjects, but that is not completely clear and the ambiguity may be deliberate: All are clothed in grace.

Why does the King lead the procession: To show them their inheritance, and then to give them their inheritance:

Then takes them in thereto, not only there

To have a prospect, but possess the same.

“To have a prospect” means to be able to see, to look upon. They will be shown the palace and then given a place in the palace.

Romans 8:17 promises that we are “joint heirs with Christ”, that is, we will share in his inheritance. Revelation 20:6 promises that the saints will reign with Christ. The promise is to share in the inheritance given to Christ.

What is the content of this inheritance? In an including but not limited to list we find:

The Crown of Life, the Throne of Glory’s place,

The Father’s house blanched o’er with orient grace.                        30

The Crown of Life:

James 1:12 (ESV)

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:14–16 (ESV)

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Father’s House is the place wherein Jesus will prepare a place:

John 14:1–2 (ESV)

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

To blanched over is to be made shining bright. Orient grace: Taylor here repurposes “grace” to refer to earthly splendor. The orient would have been understood by a man from Britain as being a place of gold and gems and spice and wonder.  Thus, the most magnificent which he could imagine.

Edward Taylor, Meditation 42.3

29 Tuesday Nov 2022

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Unkey my heart, unlock thy wardrobe: bring

Out royal robes; adorn my soul, Lord, so;                 20

My love in rich attire shall on my King

Attend, and honor on him bestow.

In glory he prepares for his a place

Whom he doth here beglory all with grace.

Notes

The flow of this stanza is easy to follow: Open up your wardrobe and take out a robe to put on me. When I am suitably dressed I will wait upon you like a a courtier waits upon the king.

Unkey my hear, unlock thy wardrobe: bring

Out royal robes; adorn my soul, Lord, so;

Lines 19-20 express a simple prayer: Open up closet and dress me in a robe. The imagery here alludes to the story of the Prodigal Son. The son of a rich father demands his inheritance. The son then leaves his father and wastes the inheritance on debauched living. The son falls to feeding pigs during a famine. In despair he returns home with the hope that he perhaps he take a position as a servant on his father’s estate.  Each movement of the son’s life brings greater disgrace upon the father. To demand an inheritance is to wish his father dead. To live a profligate life degrades his father further. He falls to the lowest of servants and then comes back a virtual slave. The father should reject the son to maintain his honor.

Instead, the father has been patiently waiting for his son to return. When he sees his son “a long way off” he runs through the streets (degrading himself further) to bring his son home. Once home, the father prepares a banquet and dresses his son in his “best robe.” (Luke 15:22)

By alluding to this story, Taylor is putting himself in the place of the son who has degraded his father and then receives grace and mercy in abundance.

The return of the poet for being so dressed is to attend upon the king in love. While no one can increase the honor of God, we can certainly extol his honor, which increases our joy in the Lord. (Think of the analogy. How we praise those things we love and admire because our praise of the thing increases our joy in that object or person. To praise God is not to increase God’s merit but our happiness.)

Let’s now move back to the very first clauses in the stanza:

Unkey my heart, unlock thy wardrobe

The King’s wardrobe is also the poet’s heart. God is not going somewhere else to find the robe. This is the image which has been working its way through the poem. The poet is a chest wherein God should find something wonderful. The love therein is in terrible shape, but the very act of God going to that chest makes it new.

There is a conceit in Christianity that God does not love us because we are lovely. We do not merit God’s mercy and love. But that by loving us, God makes us lovely. His love transforms us.

Taylor ends with this couplet:

In glory he prepares for his a place

Whom he doth here beglory all with grace

In John 14, after the “last supper” the disciples of Jesus are discouraged. He tells them not to be discouraged or frightened: He is leaving. But his leaving is “to prepare a place” for us to live with him.

Christ has gone to prepare a place – and here prepares us here to enter into that place. Here, we are “beglor[ied] all with grace.” Grace is every good kindness which God bestows upon us. Our return to him is love, praise, honor.

This poem then, which extols the glory of God in bestowing grace is part of the honor which the poet promises to render.  The poem is both a prayer and an answer to the prayer (open my heart that I may praise you).

Edward Taylor, Meditation 42

04 Friday Nov 2022

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Apples of gold in silver pictures shrined

Enchant the appetite, make mouths to water.

And loveliness in lumps tunn’d and enshrined

In jasper cask, when tapped, doth briskly vaper:

Brings forth a birth of keys to unlock Love’s Chest,              5

That Love, like birds, may fly to’t from its nest.

(World’s largest wine tun)

Such is my Lord, and more. But what strange thing

Am I become? Sin rusts my lock all o’re.

Though he thousand keys all on a string

Takes out, scarce one, is found, unlocks the door.                 10

Which ope, my love crincht in a corner lies

Like some shrunk crickling and scare can rise.

Notes

To “tun” to store in a tun, a cask.

Vaper: turn to vapor? (There is a contemporary definition of the word meaning one who “vapes.)

Crinch: An obsolete dialect form of “cringe”. The idea being to grind or to be a small ground down bit. Here the meaning is to be folded or cramped into a corner.

Crickling: something small, shrunken

The Motto as printed mistakenly reads Revelation 3:22, but quotes from

Revelation 3:21 (KJV)

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

This comes at the end of the seven “letters” which Jesus sends to seven churches. In addition to various warnings and commendations, Jesus makes promises to the church. This is the final promise to the churches. To sit on the throne with does not mean two people physically sitting in the same chair but rather sharing in one’s inheritance and power. To this extent the promise echoes:

Romans 8:14–17 (KJV)

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Apples of gold this line is an allusion to Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

Here “shrined” must mean placed.

Enchant the appetite, make mouths to water. The sight of something delicious stimulates the appetite. A side note: I just finished teaching the chapter on motivation for introductory psychology. The textbook reports the finding that sensory exposure to food can stimulate the appetite. Apparently Taylor happened upon this scientific discovery some years earlier.

And loveliness in lumps tunn’d and enshrined

In jasper cask, when tapped, doth briskly vaper.

These lines function as a repetition of the concept from the first two lines: When exposed to something beautiful or desirable, the effect to create positive response. I must admit that the use of the word “lump” with a positive connotation is difficult for modern ears but the sound of the line is excellent.  There the repetition of “l” loveliness/lumps. The repeated “u” “lumps tunn’d”. The repetition of the “t” and “d” tunn’d/tapped creates a near rhyme.  The “enshrined” parallels the “shrined” of the first line.

The last word “vaper” must then parallel the conceit of a positive response (mouths to water = vaper), but I am not quite certain of Taylor’s meaning.

Perhaps it means to turn to vapor which then leads to the next image:

                                    doth briskly vaper:

Brings forth a birth of keys

Here the subjective effect of the sight moves from taste/appetite, to vapor, to mental state which is akin to keys which open a chest. The move between psychological states and concrete images is something.

One could either find the shift between mental states and physical objects too remote and dissonant to be effective. But as I work with this idea, I like the movement here. I come to a sight. The sight strikes and creates a strong desire. That desire is a key which will open a chest.

In that manner I find the movement of images effective: Desire certainly can be a power which opens “Love’s Chest.” In fact, it is hard to conceive of love without desire for the beloved:

Brings forth a birth of keys to unlock Love’s Chest,              5

That Love, like birds, may fly to’t from its nest.

The sight of this chest creates strong desire in me, which opens this chest. This chest, “love’s chest” welcomes love to enter, like a bird it will there.

The difficulty of Taylor’s images can either be taken as a needlessly difficult puzzle, or as a faithful representation of manner in which ideas move from one-association to another.  The poem is not impenetrable. Rather the difficulty can lie in the difficulty of tracing another human being’s thought.

What is interesting, is that we do not know yet what Taylor has seen. The references to the apples of gold or loveliness in lumps are stand-ins for what he has actually come to see. But that is not revealed until the first line of the second stanza:

Such is my Lord, and more.

We can now fill-in the movement of thought. The sight of my Lord creates such desire, that it opens a chest for love to enter and remain. The Second Meditation refers to a soul as a cabinet wherein the Lord could be present as something of inestimable value.

This then leads to an overarching theme of Taylor’s poetry: the beauty/holiness/wonder of the Lord when brought into contrast with the unworthiness of the poet. There is an absurd difference between the greatness of God and the sinfulness of the man.

                                    But what strange thing

Am I become? Sin rusts my lock all o’re

Here we have language which echoes Mediation 36, But am I thine? Oh! What strange thing’s in me?  https://memoirandremains.com/tag/meditation-36/

The next movement of the story should “obviously” be he will open his life to this beauty. But instead, sin has intervened. The key of desire cannot open the chest for love, because Sin rusts my lock all o’re

Here his imagery becomes a bit confused but still consistent in its emphasis:

Though he thousand keys all on a string

Takes out, scarce one, is found, unlocks the door.                 10

Which ope, my love crincht in a corner lies

Like some shrunk crickling and scare can rise.

If one opens “Love’s Chest”, love will be found inside, but it is shrunken and whithered in a corner. The just of the obsolete dialect “crincht” and “crickling” sounds wonderful to me. They are words that sound like what they mean. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/456303/word-that-sounds-like-its-meaning-not-onomatopoeia-ex-twinkle

Edward Taylor, Meditation 41.4

14 Friday Oct 2022

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(I’m back from traveling:

Stanza 4

He broke her cramping talons, did unlute

The sealed grave and gloriously up rose

Ascendeth up to glory on this sute.

Prepare a place for thee where glory glows

Yea yea for thee, although thy grief out gush

At such black sin at which the sun may blush.

Notes

The primary musical feature of this stanza is the alliteration on the letter “g”. Grave, gloriously, glory, glory glows, grief, gush.

The accent on this stanza is regular, although the “gloriously” must be fully pronounced.

The argument of the stanza moves on from the escape from Debtor’s prison pictured at the end of the third stanza:

Who having in this prison paid the debt.

And took a ‘quittance, made Death’s Valet fret.

The escape from the grave, the “quittance” of stanza 3 is described in its effect:

He broke her cramping talons, did unlute

The sealed grave

The word “her” must refer to the grave.  The Latin word “tumba”, tomb, sepulcher, is feminine.  The tomb is pictured as a beast with talons holding it victims tight. The picture of a hawk holding the dead as prey makes the grave an active agent in the incarceration.

The Bible does reference the grave or death as an active agent in procuring the dead, although this personification is not frequent.

Psalm 89:48 (KJV)

48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

Job 28:22 (KJV)

22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

To “lute” a thing is to seal it. To unlute is to break apart, to unseal. Hence, he

                                    did unlute

The sealed grave

He unsealed the sealed grave.  The grave itself was sealed:

Matthew 27:62–66 (KJV)

62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Taylor leaves out the 40 days of “many proofs” of his resurrection (Acts 1:3) and moves on to the Ascension:

                        and gloriously up rose

Ascendeth up to glory on this sute.

Acts 1:6–11 (KJV)

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

“on this sute” must refer to Christ’s legal vindication, his “suit.”  The word “sute” can also refer to a collection of mallard ducks.

In this place, the Lord now “prepares a place”, an allusion to John 14:

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

John 14:1–4 (KJV) Btw, “mansion” refers to a place to live, not a spectacular house. That meaning came later.

And now we turn to the paradox which runs through Taylor’s poetry, Lord gives glorious good mercies to those who are undeserving:

although thy grief out gush

At such black sin at which the sun may blush.

That “although” is the key to relationship which Taylor portrays between us and God. God is good and loving and mercy, while we are rebellious, unthankful, unworthy.

It is here that the repetition of the “g” supports the meaning of the passage. Until this point in the stanza, the “g” was associated with good: the vanquished “grave”, and glory: Grave, gloriously, glory, glory glows. But here, when we come to our participation, all we can add is gushing grief at our sin.

Edward Taylor, Meditation 41.3

29 Thursday Sep 2022

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(It’s been a while. The previous post on this poem will be found here:

Stanza 3

Any why thus show? Hark, hark, my soul.  He came

To pay thy debt, and being come most just.

The creditor did sue him for the same.

Did win the case, and in the grave him thrust.

Who having in this prison paid the debt.

And took a ‘quittance, made Death’s Valet fret.

Notes

In the first two stanzas, the praises this sight, this man, this “clew of wonders”, the question arises: What precisely is here to be seen and praised. Why is this sight so wonderful:

Any why thus show? The poet is in conversation with his own soul. The soul asks what is here to see, he responds “Hark”. Listen to what I am to tell you.

The image that Christ came to pay a debt owed by sinful humanity was not new with Taylor. Here is just one example of among many prior to Taylor:

that he might become Lord over all sin; he suffered, died and was buried, and made satisfaction for me, paying my debt, not with silver or gold, but with his own most precious blood. And all this that he might become my Lord; for he had no need to do this for himself.

Martin Luther, Luther’s Catechetical Writings: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer, trans. John Nicholas Lenker, vol. I, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther (Minneapolis, MN: The Luther Press, 1907), 118–119.

But what Taylor does is to not take this image as a threadbare cliché, but rather draws out the image in detail: If Christ really came to pay my debt, how does this work? Yet, rather than describe the process in theological terms, he describes in terms of the commonplace of a debtor’s prison.

A debtors prison works as follows: When one fails to pay his debts he is imprisoned until the debt is paid. How this works in a particular instance may vary. Famously, Charles Dickens’ father was imprisoned for debt, sending the young Charles (12) out to work in a shoe blacking factory. (https://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/life/childhood/)

If Christ came to pay my debt: there could be lawsuit brought to enforce the claim:

                        and being come most just.

The creditor did sue him for the same.

The “being come must just” is bit ambiguous. Christ was just in coming. The creditor is just in bringing suit. The creditor sues Christ on my debt. Not surprisingly:

Did win the case,

At this point, the genius of this passage springs forth. A creditor who wins, places the debtor into jail. What jail was available for this debtor? The grave:

and in the grave him thrust.

This making of the grave, the debtor’s prison for sin combines the theological, the historical, and the poetic.  But Christ could not be kept in the grave. Being just himself and being of infinite merit, he can pay my debt. Moreover, being without debt himself, the jail will not hold:

Who having in this prison paid the debt.

Christ was vindicated legally: he was acquitted and came forth.  Death is the keeper of the jail. Death’s Valet is a wonderful touch: It is as if Death kept a servant in place to make sure the prisoner stayed put. Perhaps this is a wry reference to the guards kept about the tomb.

And took a ‘quittance, made Death’s Valet fret.

Death’s Valet is in then in fear because the grave did not hold. The grave has been the most secure prison in the history of the world. Even the resuscitations of life, such as calling Lazarus forth were only temporary. Lazarus went on to die. It is as if he received a furlough. But Christ came forth with a full vindication and acquittal. Death’s most dangerous enemy was walked out the front door of the prison and is now looking for death.

Edward Taylor Meditation 41.2

06 Saturday Aug 2022

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(The previous post on this poem may be found here)

Stanza Two

The magnet of all admiration’s here.
Your tumbling thoughts turn here. Here is God’s Son,
Wove in a web of flesh, and blood rich gear.
Eternal wisdom’s housewifery well spun 10
Which through the law’s pure fulfilling mills did pass.
And so went home the wealthiest web that was.

Notes

This stanza will draw together imagery which at first seems completely unrelated: weaving, webs, mills, flesh and blood, death, and victory. And magnets.

The tone of this stanza is interesting in that the poet is speaking to himself. The first line could potentially be an objective state: The focus of all admiration the “magnet” of all admiration could be understood a fact beyond the poet’s particular concern: If he wrote the “sun is hot”, he would mean it is hot for everyone; but not just for him alone.

But in line 8, he clarifies that he is speaking about himself: “Your tumbling thoughts turn here.” This is the magnet of poet’s admiration: this is where his thoughts turn. It is a subtle aside, for certainly when he makes an apparently objective observation it would include himself. But by speaking directly to himself, he implicitly ignores the rest of the world. For me, this is the magnet of admiration, this is where my thoughts turn.

Referring to Christ as magnetic is interesting. Calling some “magnetic” is so cliché as to not even be used a cliché, but magnets were a far more curious object at this time.

In 1618, a book was published which contained the known scientific investigation of magnetism (begun by William Gilbert, d. 1603), the title page reading as follows:

MAGNETICALL Aduertisements: OR
DIVERS PERTINENT obseruations, and approued ex∣periments, concerning the natures and pro∣perties of the Load-stone.
Uery pleasant for knowledge, and most needfull for practise, of trauelling, or fra∣ming of Instruments fit for Trauellers both by Sea and Land.
Whereunto is annexed a breife Discouerie of the idle Animaduersions of MARK RIDLEY Dr. in Physicke, vpon this Treatise entituled Magneticall Aduertisements.

ACTS 17. 26.He hath made of one bloud all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seeke the Lord, &c.
The second Edition.
LONDON, Printed by Edward Griffin for Timothy Barlow, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard, at the signe of Time. 1618.

Richard Sibbes (two generations before Taylor) made use of magnetism in an image similar to Taylor’s use here (the magnet as an image of desire):

Christ’s love in us, is as the loadstone to the iron. Our hearts are heavy and downwards of themselves. We may especially know his love by this, that it draws us upwards, and makes us heavenly minded. It makes us desire further and further communion with him. Still there is a magnetical attractive force in Christ’s love. Wheresoever it is, it draws the heart and affections after it.

Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 2 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet And Co.; W. Robertson, 1862), 77. And:

Desires are the immediate issue of the soul, the motion and stirring of the same to something that likes it. When there is anything set before the soul having a magnetical force, as the loadstone, to draw out the motions thereof, we call that desire, though for the present it enjoys it not.

Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1862), 338.

This object of desire is the Son of God:

            Here is God’s Son,

Wove in a web of flesh, and blood rich gear.


The 9th line begins with an accented “wove”. The lack of a pause before this word gives it a special emphasis, it is further underscored by being alliterative with “web.” The image startling: wove and web bring an air of a spider’s web. The Son of God is now utterly bound-up in flesh. The second half of the line “blood rich gear” is even more striking. By gear, we outstanding that the Son of God has been outfitted, but outfitted with “blood.” Blood rich at first seems to indicate the color of the gear. But this also alludes to the eventual death of Christ where his blood was poured out.

What weapon does Christ then possess, what gear? Death. The gear will be blood. There is yet another possible use of blood here: When a warrior is proceeding and covered in blood, the implication is that he is covered in his enemy’s blood and that he will not be stopped:

Isaiah 63:1–6 (ESV)
63 Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

By using the phrase “blood rich gear,” Taylor manages to evoke multiple aspects of Christ’s work and life.

The weaving now comes back as image of domestic industry. This is a good example of how one must be careful not to impose one’s own expectations upon a text: The idea of web and wove, although appropriate of a spider, are not the aspects which Taylor draws out. Domestic weaving is something completely beyond my experience, but would be commonplace for Taylor.
Eternal wisdom has brought forth this work of God in Christ: God made flesh, well-spun. That workmanship (the housewifery) passed through the law: Christ fulfilled the demands of the law: he went through the “wringer” as we might say. To pass through a mill would be grain broken between two millstones. But the effect upon Christ was not his destruction, but rather to be possessed not of a destroyed garment but one the costliest of all:

Eternal wisdom’s housewifery well spun 10
Which through the law’s pure fulfilling mills did pass.
And so went home the wealthiest web that was.

The admiration is the success of the Son of God in so passing in blood rich gear.

This last set of images evokes the weaving & the blood image: for to pass through the mill would be completely destroy – and yet here, not destroy.

The alliteration on the “w” throughout this stanza also draws it tight

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