Submission
The speaker’s attitude is one of humility and
servitude. He never wants to be the one running
the spinning wheel, weaving on the loom, or
sewing the garment. Instead, he asks God to put
him to use in the service of the one who does all
those things. He is totally surrendered to the will
of God, even outright asking that his own will be
cloaked by the garment at the end. The speaker
understands God’s hierarchy, and his desire is to
play his submissive role in that hierarchy, not to
climb the hierarchy. The speaker is concerned
only with glorifying God, not with vain or
proud notions of seeking any glory for himself.
The final stanza reveals that the speaker sees
how his submission to the purpose and will of
God will ultimately give his life meaning and
secure his place in heaven. He knows he cannot
gain these for himself, which is why he does not
want to be in control. He has faith that God will
spin perfectly, weave perfectly, and sew per-
fectly, and the speaker’s joy is to be a tool in
his deity’s hands as he creates the garment. The
speaker also seems to believe that the garment of
salvation is one that can only be created by God,
and only God can put it on the speaker. His sense
of humility is coupled with gratitude, so he never
regrets his attitude of submission.STYLEWeaving Motif
The predominant stylistic feature of ‘‘Huswif-
ery’’ is the metaphorical comparison (direct com-
parison made without using ‘‘like’’ or ‘‘as’’) of
spinning thread, weaving, and sewing to spiri-
tual transformation. This metaphor is so integral
to the poem that it becomes a motif, a recurring
symbolic or metaphorical element that is central
to a piece of literature. Here, the poem’s motif
encompasses the spinning wheel, thread, flyers,
loom, fabric, dye, and so on. It is significant that
Taylor chooses to utilize a motif rather than a
series of similes because a motif, like a metaphor,
draws a sharper, more intimate connection
between the speaker and his desire to be used
by God as a participant in each step of the proc-
ess of creating the garment. It is important to
recognize the distinction between the tools used
to create the garment and the materials it con-
sists of. The speaker himself is not the thread, the
cloth, or the garment but rather asks to be the
spinning wheel on which the thread is made into
yarn, the loom on which the yarn is made into
fabric, and the wearer of the garment made out
of the fabric. This is meaningful because the
speaker asks God to be the parts used to make
the garment, but the speaker does not see himself
as the garment of salvation itself. However, he
very much sees his need to wear that garment.
As for the particulars of the weaving motif,
in the first stanza, the speaker wants to be part of
the mechanism that begins to work on the
thread, and he calls his human failings the flyers
and his soul the spool. His participation is thus
not guided by his own will but is directed by the
one operating the spinning wheel. A spinning
wheel needs a person to work it and make the
thread into usable yarn; in this case, the speaker
desires to be controlled by God as the one spin-
ning. In the second stanza, the speaker wants to
be the loom, a piece that has fewer moving parts
than the spinning wheel and which is as useless
without a user. Again, the speaker submits
wholly to the will of God. And in the last stanza,
the speaker admits his own human shortcomings
as he asks to be clothed in the garment. He sees
the garment as a gift, and he is bold enough toSpinning wheel(Image copyright John S. Sfondilias, 2009. Used
under license from Shutterstock.com)
Huswifery