Edward Taylor Meditattion 8 Essay

Impurities within our kind Wars, famine, diseases, pollution, are just a few of the terrible things that
happen on Earth. Because of all this, it looks like the world is not perfect. Everyday more and more bad things happen, slowly the Earth degrades, and its inhabitants are more and more at risk. But what is the cause at the origin of these imperfections? It is not the birds or the trees. It is humanity that, although promoting progress and a better life for all, is endangering the very place were life is, and affects its surroundings with all its human imperfections. In the poem, Meditation 8, by Edward Taylor, the metaphysical poet conveys that all humans are imperfect by showing that humanity is impure and in need of Gods salvation. In this profound poem, Edward Taylor shows the depth of humankind impurity. Edward Taylor, being a fervent Puritan, believed that every person is impure. In the first stanza the poet describes a golden path that leads to a beautiful place but he cannot follow it because of some human obstacles the author puzzles about, A Golden Path my Pencil cannot line From that bright Throne unto my Threshold ly And while my puzzled thoughts about it pore I find the Bread of Life int at my doore (lines 2-6) He then goes to analyze these obstacles and deducts that, through the metaphor of a Bird of Paradise, the soul is trapped into the human body, here referred as a Wicker cage (8). And since the human body is impure and sinful, all its desires and its limitations are attached to this world, not to Gods Heaven. Therefore the soul strives for Gods Grace against the restrains of an impure body, and humanity is also marked by the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, When that this Bird of Paradise put in this Wicker Cage (my Corps) to
tweedle praise had peckt the Fruite forbad:(9). All that prevents the soul from is able to find and feed on the Bread of Life, and flung away its food; and lost its golden days; It fell into Celestial Famine sore: and never could attain a morsell more (10-12). The fight between the purity striving soul and the impure body can be won by the soul only by the death of the body. And this fragility is also an imperfection that marks more the distance between humanity and God: God is perfect and therefore immortal while all humans are destined to die. That is the price of the original sin. So, for the bird, or soul, to go on it has to be free of the cage, or body, but meanwhile it starves because the Bread of Life is not available and the bird/soul cannot feed of worldly food, Alas! Alas! Poore Bird, what wilt thou doe? The Creatures field no food for Souls ere gave (13, 14) And not even the Angels can help because also their supply is gone, And if thou knock at Angels cores they show an Empty Barrel: they no soul bread have (15, 16). The poor soul by itself has no chance for a life in this sinners world, and it is totally starving and helpless, Alas! Poore Bird, the Worlds White Loafe is done. And cannot yield thee here the smallest Crumb (17, 18).
At this point Edward Taylor shows us that the generosity of God is endless because he comes to our salvation, and His Grace overlooks our imperfections. Only through Him the soul can find the Bread of Life, In this sad state, Gods Tender Bowells run Out streams of Grace: and he to end all strife (19, 20). The poem is now rejoicing with Gods Grace coming to our salvation. Not only He feeds all souls but He has His Son prepare the Bread of Life, The Purest Wheate in Heaven, his deare-dear Son Grinds, and kneads up into this Bread of Life (21, 22). And not only but this salvation is served upon a table by the hands of the Angels, Which Bread of Life from Heaven down came and stands Disht on thy Table
up by Angells Hands (23, 24). God literally had to hand feed the bird. Regardless of the bird being less than perfect, God welcomes it and feeds it to show that it is always right to strive for Gods goodness and forgiveness. And that the bird alone, without God, cannot survive. Taylor describes that without Gods salvation, through His Grace and Mercy, the soul could not survive because that is the only food it needs. And although men have sinned and forsaken God since Adam and Eve, God is so good and merciful that He still offers salvation to humankind. And for the salvation of humankind God sacrificed Jesus, His only Son. As Taylor says, this Bread of Life drops in thy mouth, doth Cry. Eate, Eate me, Soul, and thou shalt never dy (35, 36). And through Gods salvation the soul shall never die. Through their choice, the original sin, humans are born imperfect and they have to live with this imperfection. So many temptations are around to show human weaknesses, just like the snake offering the juicy apple to Adam and Eve over and over. But the soul can lift itself above these imperfections attached to the fragile human body and strive for goodness and salvation. God never abandoned humans, part of His creation. He suffers for our sins and still is present every day to offer salvation for our souls because His love for us is never ending. The Bread of Life is within everyones reach, and God invites each one of us to take part in His meal.
Works Cited Taylor, Edward. Meditation 8 (First Series). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. Print.

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Impurities within our kind Wars, famine, diseases, pollution, are just a few of the terrible things that

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