It's one I hadn't known until I started looking around. His "Huswifery" was a long time standard in American Lit anthologies for high school, right next to Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband" --- I remember learning both in 11th grade, and I subsequently taught them when I taught 11th grade myself.
In fact, reading this poem, I let myself pause and imagine what it might be like to try to teach that whole "Tender Bowells run" imagery to 11th graders, and I saw at once why (if for no other reason) the anthologists went with something else a little safer. Made me think of a day when I tried to teach "morass" as a vocabulary word, which was basically incitement to riot. Fun times.
Stunning. So glad to have been introduced to this poem.
It's one I hadn't known until I started looking around. His "Huswifery" was a long time standard in American Lit anthologies for high school, right next to Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband" --- I remember learning both in 11th grade, and I subsequently taught them when I taught 11th grade myself.
In fact, reading this poem, I let myself pause and imagine what it might be like to try to teach that whole "Tender Bowells run" imagery to 11th graders, and I saw at once why (if for no other reason) the anthologists went with something else a little safer. Made me think of a day when I tried to teach "morass" as a vocabulary word, which was basically incitement to riot. Fun times.
Oh, my, yes, I can imagine what 11th graders would do with either of those! In fact, I can imagine what my college students might have done . . .
I remember reading "Huswifery" somewhere or other in college, another one I like.
Our fine heritage. Thank you.