History of Literature

Dear Sarah,

Hi! How is everything? I received your letter and I am so sorry that it took me so long to write you back. I completely understand where you are coming from about taking Blume’s American Literature class. English is definitely not my favorite subject but I definitely think that there are things in the course that are beneficially to know. It is not all just old English rubbish that is so hard to understand. I’ve known you for so long and if there’s one thing that I should now best about you is how you love poems. There are so many different poems to learn about in this course I know you will find it fascinating.

Michael Wigglesworth writes “The Day of Doom”, from this you can see how he perceived how the day would be when Christ comes on judgment day. “Like any sensitive believer, he was bound to have moments of doubt and joy, but ambiguity about his feelings toward his father’s death never seems to have been resolved” (292). His poem was inspired by what was going on in his life with the death of his father. “Two months later he despaired of his “senselessness” toward this loss and bewailed his, secure, hard heart”” (292). Like an average person there comes a time when you are going through some things and you reach a boiling point where something needs to happen. For Wigglesworth this was that point and he choose to “turn his dream of Judgment Day into one of the most popular poems ever written in America” (293). Sarah, I know you think that this course is pointless to take but it does deal with a lot of things that you can relate to today. Wigglesworth also writes, God is coming “at midnight brake forth a light which turned the night to day, Sinners awake, their hearts do ache, trembling their loins surpriseth; Amazed with fear, by what they hear, each one of them ariseth”. People perceived judgment day the same even back then. The feeling that God is coming will scared everyone even more the people who sin and the world will be dark and everyone will wait. For those who “depart to hell, there may