Explicit accounts of hellfire and damnation may not be the hallmark of popular fiction contemporaries, but the first American bestseller was filled with such shocking images. Graphic illustrations of the Christian faith's Doomsday saturate Michael Wigglesworth's poem, "Doomsday." Published in 1662, this piece is the culmination of his anthology of the same title, which includes three additional religious poems. New England readers devoured the first edition; Historians estimate that one in thirty-five American households owned a copy of Wigglesworth's book in the 1660s. The poem was written in direct agreement with the Bible's most daunting passages and records the chilling consequences of the end of the world. Contemporary readers might find it strange that such a disturbing literary work is so popular. However, the severity of Wigglesworth's poem was adopted in his time. Viewing this text in its historical context, it is evident that the motifs, effects, cultural perspectives, and symbols demonstrated are products of the Puritan worldview that prevailed in the 17th century. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The poem is written as a Christian account of Judgment Day. Filled with verses taken directly from the Bible, the reader is given a guided chronological tour of the events that could occur when God comes to Earth and presents Armageddon. Wigglesworth begins by describing the serenity of the Earth before God's intervention: “The night was still, serene and bright, / when all men lay asleep; / Calm was the season, and carnal reason / thought it would last a lifetime” (Norton, 293). The verses describe sinners as ignorant, basking in the luxury of sin and unaware of their impending doom. The poem then takes a bumpy turn as it depicts the sudden appearance of God. The night turns into a garish day and the people find themselves facing their Creator and Judge. The voice of God resounds like a noise louder than thunder, and the mightiest men of the land cower in submissive fear. The sea rises and the animals die. There is no place to hide. The climax of the poem depicts the horror of the Judgment. God rejects sinners' pleas for mercy and condemns them to the eternal lake of fire. The tortures endured by the sinners are described in gruesome detail: “Their pain and sorrow have no relief, / their anguish never ends.” / There they must remain and never die, / although they die every day” (Norton, 306). To counter such horror, the reader remembers the pleasures of Heaven and the place reserved for the righteous. The greatest reward for the godly is the honor of meeting God and experiencing His tangible love. Wigglesworth puts it clearly: “O glorious place! Where face to face / Jehovah can be seen / ? / For God above in the arms of love / embraces them tenderly” (Norton, 307-308). The poem ends poignantly on this happy note, with an image of saints and angels rejoicing in the damnation of sinners and living forever in the love of God. Wigglesworth provides this captivating depiction of the end of the world as a religious testimony. As a Puritan minister in Massachusetts, he witnessed the growing pervasiveness of sin and godlessness in the New World. He designed his poetry to inspire people to return to a godly lifestyle and flee apostasy. If hecould make readers fear the wrath of a God who judges them, then he could motivate them to live in accordance with the Puritan Church and the literal Word of God. The poem rewards piety and punishes transgression by illustrating the consequences of each. The influence of this religious function on the poem is apparent in its language. Wigglesworth's lyrics are specifically designed to instill fear. He creates vivid images of the hellish fate of sinners: “With iron bands they bind their hands, / and cursed feet together, / And cast them all, great and small / into this lake forever” (Norton, 306). The tone of the poem is paradoxically both threatening and paternal. Although there is clearly a dose of intimidation and warning, the poem also promises salvation for those who obey. The righteous will receive eternal life and escape such a fiery fate. The poem expresses the joy of this salvation throughout the final stanzas, and it promises the righteous that “their old distress and heaviness / have passed away like dreams” (Norton, 308). Personal interpretation of the poem would therefore depend on how one thought about living a godly lifestyle. The overwhelming popularity of the poem suggests that most New England citizens considered themselves among the righteous. and the threatening tone only strengthened their faith. The poem's rhyme and meter are also effects of Wigglesworth's religious motivations. The poem is constructed using bytes with an alternating rhyme scheme. By using a melodic rhythm, the poem is more memorable. Adults and children alike memorized the poem throughout its reign of popularity; it has become an oral tradition in addition to a famous literary work. Wigglesworth designed his poem to have the same aesthetic value as a religious sermon (Hammond, n.p.), which exuded both a sing-song quality and credibility. Wigglesworth's poem reveals many of the cultural perspectives of the New England Puritans. For the Puritans, every aspect of life was directly linked to religion. The importance of piety could not be underestimated. Concentrated in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Puritans found opportunities in the New World that were not available in England. Their campaign to purify the Church of England had lost momentum after the Restoration, so moving to America offered the Puritans the chance to rule through theocracy. Only the most devout Christians were allowed to vote or govern, although all citizens were encouraged to become members of the Church. This emphasis on religious goodness forms the backbone of Wigglesworth's work. His poem is, in essence, an actualization of faith. It embodies key aspects of the “hellfire and brimstone” faith that was Puritanism. Another cultural perspective of Puritan Christianity is revealed by the moral of Wigglesworth's story: every individual has the opportunity to be saved. America is as much a land of religious opportunity as it is a land of economic or colonial opportunity. The poem tells its readers that God will not tolerate the excuses of ignorance and that only those who are righteous during their earthly lives will be offered the prize of eternal happiness in Heaven. The poem quotes a critical God saying, “You had a season, what was your reason / such precious hours to waste? / What could you find, what bothered you / who was more urgent? » (Norton, 301). The warning here is clear: there will be no time for excuses when the end of the world comes. The Puritans wholeheartedly tried to spread the divine threat by witnessing to others. In fact, Wigglesworth's poem is amethod of witnessing to unbelievers. The Puritans saw themselves as God's chosen people and believed that they were responsible for the salvation of sinners. They cherished the Old Testament and believed that they were the chosen ones who would bring Paradise to Earth – the New Jerusalem. The New World was the landscape of this paradise. England had failed them, but the New World would prevail. Some literary critics have evolved to conjecture that the Puritans believed that they were the contemporary counterparts of the Old Testament Jews. Like Moses, who saved the Israelites from Egyptian captivity by parting the Red Sea, Puritan leaders saved righteous Christians from English corruption. The Puritans, like Moses, had crossed a great sea and were establishing a theocratic government (VanSpanckeren, np). This ideology is reflected in Wigglesworth's text. The moral of the story is that the opportunity for salvation exists. The Christian way of life could save one from the corruption of other churches and the vices of a sinful life. In this sense, the Puritans personified themselves as saviors in the image of Christ. America's Puritan experience can be subtly seen between the lines of this poem. Ambitious goals were in place when the Puritans flooded Massachusetts. The theocratic government they established was an admirable ambition, but soon the fallible men fell from grace. The “perfect” government has strayed from excellence. The Puritans had to find a way to strengthen the rules of the Church and, by proxy, the State. They had to keep their church members on track and keep order in the government. To do this, they had to remind the people of God's threat: "Christ should condemn the sons of men, / which is their just merit" (Norton, 303). Wigglesworth accomplished this feat with his literary works. “The Day of Doom” was more than a beautiful story or a biblical supplement; it was a way to structure society in the best interests of Puritan leaders. The state was new and insecure, but rules based on religion could help consolidate a church hierarchy within government. Wigglesworth's text played a crucial role in structuring the Puritan government. The New World, called America, was more than a vast expanse of land. It was much more than an ideal new home for ambitious settlers. America was a symbol. It symbolized the opportunity for the establishment of a theocratic state, in the eyes of Puritan leaders. More abstractly, America was the symbolic virgin. This new land was untouched by the white man and unpenetrated by the corruption of the Anglican Church. There were still many resources to be explored by the metaphorical Christian hand. America was occupied by a group of supposed savages, seen by the Puritans as potential converts. The New World was exactly as its name suggests: new, unscathed, and virginal. But as Europeans made the country their new home, the phantom sins of the Old World undermined the virtues of the New World. It was imperative that the Puritans restore justice to the holy land by returning the people to a holy way of life. Wigglesworth’s writing does just that. They provided the appropriate motivation for conversion and reaffirmation. They challenged the faithful to reconsider their way of life and reconfirm their faithful fear of God. Wigglesworth's text helped advance the aspirations of Puritanism. They hypothesized that by purifying the Church, Society would follow suit and, hopefully, all>