Edward Taylor

Edward Taylor (c. 1642–1729) was an English-born American Puritan poet and Congregational minister in colonial New England. Educated at Harvard College, he became pastor of the church in Westfield, Massachusetts, serving there for decades. Taylor wrote intensely devotional verse shaped by Reformed theology and the daily demands of pastoral life. His best-known work, the *Preparatory Meditations*, consists of poems composed to prepare his heart for administering the Lord’s Supper. Much of his poetry remained unpublished during his lifetime and was rediscovered in the twentieth century, establishing him as a major voice in early American literature.