There are many different types of writing styles that authors use in their works of literature. Writing style can be defined as the way an author expresses themselves in their writing. Although many Puritan period writers use a plain writing style, Puritan poets Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet; Taylor’s most famous poem is “Huswifery”, while Bradstreet’s most famous is her poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” , and both of these poems discuss the devotion to a loved one where Taylor’s devotion is to God and Bradstreet’s to her husband. These poems have a similar but unique writing style that use literary devices such as inversion, figurative language, and sentence structure.

Inversion is a literary device where the order of words in a sentence are reversed, and it is used in more in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” than in “Huswifery”. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, Bradstreet says “If ever two were one, then surely we” (Bradstreet 1); however normally the natural way of saying this would be “We would become one if it were ever possible”, also when she says “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray” (Bradstreet 12) it would be more natural to say “I pray that the heavens reward thee”. Taylor uses inversion in his poem “Huswifery” and says “My Conversation make to be thy Reele” (Taylor 5) when the natural order would be “Make my Conversation thy Reele”. The order of words can be changed very easily and is an important device in writing style.

Figurative language is used throughout both “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. The poems’ figurative language is describing their love. “Huswifery” is an extended metaphor that compares the narrator’s devotion to God to spinning cloth. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” uses many metaphors throughout the poem. Figurative language can add to any work of literature.

Sentence structure is a very important literary device that add variety to a work of literature such as Taylor’s and Bradstreet’s poems. The sentence structure of Bradstreet’s poem contains a variety of simple sentences and compound-complex sentences such as “My love is such that rivers cannot quench, nor ought but love from thee, give recompense thy love is such I can in no way repay” (Bradstreet 9-12). “Huswifery” has a variety of simple and compound sentences such as “Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate and make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee” (Taylor 3-4). The sentence structure of both of the poems has a good variation.


Literary devices such as inversion, figurative language, and sentence structure are important components of a writer’s writing style. Inversion adds a complex style to “Huswifery” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. Figurative language is important and adds meaning to both poems. The sentence structure of Taylor’s and Bradstreet’s poems has variety and adds length to each. These literary devices are needed to make a writer’s writing style unique and abundant in influence.