Gracious laughter : the meditative wit of Edward Taylor / John Gatta.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gatta, John, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Taylor, Edward, 1642-1729--Humor.

Taylor, Edward.

Taylor, Edward, 1642-1729.

Taylor, Edward, 1642-1729--Criticism and interpretation.

Devotional literature, American--History and criticism.

Devotional literature, American.

Christian poetry, American--History and criticism.

Christian poetry, American.

Wit and humor--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Wit and humor.

Puritans--New England--Intellectual life.

Puritans.

New England.

Intellectual life.

Puritans--New England--Humor.

Puritan movements in literature.

Comic, The, in literature.

Puritans--Intellectual life.

Local Subjects:

Taylor, Edward, 1642-1729--Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Humor.

Physical Description:

xvii, 228 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, 1989.

Summary:

Study of the New England colonial poet, Edward Taylor, and the relationship between his verbal wit and his religious commitment to Puritan belief. Gratt evaluates the anti-utilitarian dimensions and Puritan themes in Taylor's poems to draw larger conclusions about the New England Soul.

Contents:

Divinity at play. Another view of the Puritan divine ; Wit's anatomy: from mind to humor ; Taylor's play: reverent parody and the comic imagination

Pills to purge New England melancholy. The diagnosis of Puritan sorrow ; Wit, meditation, and the word

From depravity to festival. The aesthetics of depravity ; The problem of audience and expression ; The festal attraction of the Lord's Supper

The comic design of Gods determinations touching his elect. The character and precursors of Gods determinations ; The divine plot and human parody of creation ; The ludicrous trials of the doubting soul and the unwitting compliance of Satan ; Christ's curious paradise regained

A festival frame of spirit: the preparatory meditations. The contemplative spark: Taylor's poetic triptych ; Patterns of play in the meditations

Songs and valedictions: later meditations and other verse. Typological wit and the holy delight of canticles ; Taylor's wit of valediction.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 212-223) and index.

Conference on Christianity & Literature Book of the Year Award, Winner, 1989

Other Format:

Online version: Gatta, John. Gracious laughter.

ISBN:

0826207049

9780826207043

OCLC:

18464525