The Pioneers Of American Literature

Literature is constantly evolving, constantly looking for something new to write about. Franchises have been built off of finding new ways to retell a story, make it seem original. Creativity permeates modern literature and culture. However that was not always the case. When this country was first born, there was no need for creativity.

Early American literature was rather dry. Trail blazers changed the course of American literature. Writers like Smith, Bradford, and Winthrop show the slow transition from uninspired compositions to provocative written works. Bradstreet and Taylor showcase the new standard for early American literature and writing styles. John Smith is one of the first documented writers from the New World. He was a fearless explorer, he “embodied the American pioneering spirit and was one of the first authors to write of the southern landscape’s beauty and promise”. He employed literary tools within his writing, including similes and hyperboles. Aside from those literary tools, his writing was fairly unimaginative. His creative writing skills were evident when he wrote what he was passionate about. Smith was a man who penned descriptive battle scenes, including active fighting and reconnaissance. This was most likely influenced by his formative years. He spent many of those years as a soldier, roaming from army to army. He is known specifically for describing the early encounters the settlers had with the indigenous people. The encounters were not always peaceful, and he recounted them easily. “Smith...had his two men slain...who finding he was beset with 200 savages, two of them he slew, still defending himself with the aid of a savage his guide, whom he bound to his arm with his garters…”.

The language with which he used to describe this scene is so powerful, the action was almost visible. Smith uses prose narrative to make the person reading his compositions feel as if they are in the thick of things. Smith used similes to describe the situations that many of the soldiers faced. “And as much barley boiled with water for a man a day, and this having fried some twenty-six weeks in the ship’s hold, contained as many worms as grains”. Smith held the hope that by using such language, he could entice able bodied Englanders to migrate to the New World. There is a definite transition into Smith using more positive descriptive language as he tries to draw people to the New World. “Who can desire more content, that hath small means; or but only his merit to advance his fortune, than to tread, and plant that ground he hath purchased by the hazard of his life?”. He set the tone for fellow colonial writers to follow, with his inclusion of sensory imagery.

William Bradford’s writing showed the evolution of early colonial writing. His writing acts as a middle ground between the old, rough and tough explorative compositions and the extravagant later writings. He becomes tentatively descriptive and introduces unorthodox ideas, mainly irony and humor. The author begins to delve into wielding irony when he tells the tale of a rather explicit sailor. “There was a very broad and profane young man...contemning the poor people in their seasickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations...he hoped to cast half of them overboard...he would curse and swear most bitterly”. Within that same account, Bradford illustrates the situational irony, “and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard. Thus his curses lighted on his own head…”. The author uses subtle satire to point out the fate brought on to the sailor. Bradford’s understated wit is a common thread throughout his works, “Bradford can elicit a smile from the attentive reader. Bradford makes use of humor for time honored purposes-to ease the weathering of hard times and to mock one’s opponents”. The author frequently couples sensory language with humor. This technique was unprecedented at the time. Bradford’s muted humor manifests itself well with the quote, “Neither was there any hurt done to any of either side, save that one was so drunk that he ran his own nose upon the point of a sword that one held before him as he entered the house, but he lost but a little bit of his hot blood”. He was a literary pioneer in many ways, thus making it easier for subsequent writers.

John Winthrop was a devoted Puritan, as was reflected in all of his published works. He had high ambitions from his work, hoping to eventually “reform the national church from within”. Winthrop used descriptive language and imagery to outline the way that a Christian, especially a Puritan, should behave themselves. He believed that the best way to change the church was for individuals within the church to change. He pled with the members of the community to get along, “that every man might have need of other, and from hence they might be knit more nearly together in the bonds of brotherly affection” (91). In comparison to early writers, such as Smith and Bradford, Winthrop thoroughly gives life to everything he writes. God’s influence on Winthrop’s life is apparent through his writing. Winthrop strove to love like God, and to have his community do so too. The author’s zeal inspired expressive language within his accounts, “this love is as absolutely necessary to the being of the body of Christ, as the sinews and other ligaments of a natural body are to the being of the body”. John Winthrop marks the segue into more modern, imaginative literature, like the works composed by Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor.

Anne Bradstreet was the first of her kind, a purposefully imaginative early American writer. She was the first New World author that became published in London, and the first woman to boot. Bradstreet incorporates sensory writing and creative word choice in her compositions. Her published works are rich with language that etches the scene into any readers mind. The beginning of her poem, “Contemplations” showcases the use of sensory writing perfectly with the line “sometime now past in the autumnal tide, when Phoebus wanted but one hour to bed, the trees all richly clad, yet void of pride, were gilded o’er by his rich golden head”. The author’s poems, laden with imagery, is almost overwhelming when read carefully and truly taken in. She conveys landscapes and emotions very well. This is summed up well in the quote, “then higher on the glistening Sun I gazed, whose beams was shaded by the leafy tree; the more I looked the more I grew amazed…”. Her amazement at God’s work is something that permeates her publications.

Some of her works are staunchly observational of the wonders of God, whilst others are more apprehensive. For instance, her poem “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” has uneasy undertones to it. The author is writing about the fate of her family after her eventual death. She illustrates this with the inclusion of this quote, “How soon, my dear, death may my steps attend, how soon’t may be thy lot to lose thy friend…”. Within the same poem, she demonstrated extensive knowledge of the use of syllabic abnormalities. Every other line in the poem contained ten syllables, except for lines five and six. The line in question states “the sentence past is most irrevocable, a common thing, yet oh, inevitable” and contains eleven syllables per line.It is believed that the abnormality is due in part to Bradstreet trying to stress the severity of her words. Bradstreet’s writing style set the stage for the next generation of creatives.

Edward Taylor is a complete departure from early colonial writers. Whereas previously published works were written to aid the circulation of facts, Taylor marked the definitive transition into creative writing for creative writing’s sake. This transformation became the new norm. Compositions became less literal and more artistic. Writers like Taylor began to use the written word as their form of self expression. In Taylor’s case, his self expression was used to point to the glory of God. The author’s subject choice could be attributed to his young adulthood, as he was a minister for a small town. His religion is a part of his everyday identity, especially his published writings. Taylor’s academic background also contributes to the complex syntax found within his poems. He studied many languages, “like most Harvard ministers, he knew Latin, Hebrew, and Greek”. His occupation and schooling set him up to be a fantastic writer. He was an unofficial representative of writers of that time. Within his compositions, he exudes his love for the church, and more specifically for God. This is evident from his prologue, “inspire this crumb of dust til it display thy glory through’t: and then thy dust shall live”.

There are many passages such as this one depicting the supremacy and awe inspiring power of God. Taylor evidently had a vivid imagination and employed many rhetorical devices. He uses these rhetorical devices to compare humanity and Birds of Paradise. Parallels are drawn between the caged exotic birds and the human soul encased within the body. “When that this Bird of Paradise put in this wicker cage (my Corpse) to tweedle praise…”. The author leads the reader into believing that their soul is something beautiful and exotic, something that should be free, but is temporarily imprisoned. Audiences are drawn in by the minister’s utilization of inventive phrasing. Edward Taylor’s works were indicative of the changing literary norms.

Smith, Bradford, and Winthrop are prime examples of early American writers. They set the stage for their later counterparts, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. Each author used sensory image to develop their overarching themes within their writing. The writers of these stories slowly become more innovative as each author debuted unprecedented ideas. These pioneers paved the way for modern authors.