Therein, she implores him to right America's wrongs and be a just administrator. Given this challenge, Wheatley managed, Erkkila points out, to "merge" the vocabularies of various strands of her experiencefrom the biblical and Protestant Evangelical to the revolutionary political ideas of the dayconsequently creating "a visionary poetics that imagines the deliverance of her people" in the total change that was happening in the world. All in all a neat package of a poem that is memorable and serves a purpose. The message of this poem is that all people, regardless of race, can be of Christian faith and saved. What difficulties did they face in considering the abolition of the institution in the formation of the new government? But, in addition, the word sets up the ideological enlightenment that Wheatley hopes will occur in the second stanza, when the speaker turns the tables on the audience. The Quakers were among the first to champion the abolition of slavery. for the Use of Schools. 121-35. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/being-brought-africa-america, "On Being Brought from Africa to America In the following essay, Scheick argues that in "On Being Brought from Africa to America," Wheatleyrelies on biblical allusions to erase the difference between the races. She thus makes clear that she has praised God rather than the people or country of America for her good fortune. Baldwin, Emma. Most descriptions tell what the literary elements do to enhance the story. In lieu of an open declaration connecting the Savior of all men and the African American population, one which might cause an adverse reaction in the yet-to-be-persuaded, Wheatley relies on indirection and the principle of association. Remember: This is just a sample from a fellow student. To a Christian, it would seem that the hand of divine Providence led to her deliverance; God lifted her forcibly and dramatically out of that ignorance. She describes those Christian people with African heritage as being "refin'd" and that they will "join th' angelic train.". The question of slavery weighed heavily on the revolutionaries, for it ran counter to the principles of government that they were fighting for. Wheatley and Women's History Although she was an enslaved person, Phillis Wheatley Peters was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. The rest of the poem is assertive and reminds her readers (who are mostly white people) that all humans are equal and capable of joining "th' angelic train." Thomas Jefferson's scorn (reported by Robinson), however, famously articulates the common low opinion of African capability: "Religion, indeed, has produced a Phillis Whately, but it could not produce a poet. The poem was a tribute to the eighteen-century frigate USS Constitution. The first allusion occurs in the word refin'd. All the end rhymes are full. The audience must therefore make a decision: Be part of the group that acknowledges the Christianity of blacks, including the speaker of the poem, or be part of the anonymous "some" who refuse to acknowledge a portion of God's creation. Alliteration is a common and useful device that helps to increase the rhythm of the poem. succeed. Such authors as Wheatley can now be understood better by postcolonial critics, who see the same hybrid or double references in every displaced black author who had to find or make a new identity. She published her first poem in 1767, later becoming a household name. 1 Phillis Wheatley, "On Being Brought from Africa to America," in Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition, ed. They are walking upward to the sunlit plains where the thinking people rule. Publication of Wheatley's poem, "An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of the Celebrated Divine George Whitefield," in 1770 made her a household name. Benjamin Franklin visited her. Suddenly, the audience is given an opportunity to view racism from a new perspective, and to either accept or reject this new ideological position. The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain; Majestic grandeur! "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a poem by Phillis Wheatley, who has the distinction of being the first African American person to publish a book of poetry. The poet quickly and ably turns into a moral teacher, explaining as to her backward American friends the meaning of their own religion. It is used within both prose and verse writing. Although her intended audience is not black, she still refers to "our sable race." As placed in Wheatley's poem, this allusion can be read to say that being white (silver) is no sign of privilege (spiritually or culturally) because God's chosen are refined (purified, made spiritually white) through the afflictions that Christians and Negroes have in common, as mutually benighted descendants of Cain. This is a metaphor. Indeed, the idea of anyone, black or white, being in a state of ignorance if not knowing Christ is prominent in her poems and letters. PDF. In addition, their color is consider evil. In fact, the Wheatleys introduced Phillis to their circle of Evangelical antislavery friends. Barbara Evans. Albeit grammatically correct, this comma creates a trace of syntactic ambiguity that quietly instates both Christians and Negroes as the mutual offspring of Cain who are subject to refinement by divine grace. Imperative language shows up in this poem in the last two lines. Wheatley, however, is asking Christians to judge her and her poetry, for she is indeed one of them, if they adhere to the doctrines of their own religion, which preaches Christ's universal message of brotherhood and salvation. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Like many Christian poets before her, Wheatley's poem also conducts its religious argument through its aesthetic attainment. Wheatley was then abducted by slave traders and brought to America in 1761. She did not know that she was in a sinful state. by Phillis Wheatley. Phillis Wheatley was born in Africa in 1753 and enslaved in America. 7Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain. In this sense, white and black people are utterly equal before God, whose authority transcends the paltry earthly authorities who have argued for the inequality of the two races. This position called for a strategy by which she cleverly empowered herself with moral authority through irony, the critic claims in a Style article. CRITICISM 189, 193. This idea sums up a gratitude whites might have expected, or demanded, from a Christian slave. ." Negros That is, she applies the doctrine to the black race. . Also supplied are tailor-made skill lessons, activities, and poetry writing prompts; the . 422. 3, 1974, pp. She was unusually precocious, and the family that enslaved her decided to give her an education, which was uncommon for an enslaved person. In the meanwhile, until you change your minds, enjoy the firefight! May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Phillis Wheatley's poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" appeared in her 1773 volume Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, the first full-length published work by an African American author. She meditates on her specific case of conversion in the first half of the poem and considers her conversion as a general example for her whole race in the second half. THEMES Phillis Wheatley: Complete Writings (2001), which includes "On Being Brought from Africa to America," finally gives readers a chance to form their own opinions, as they may consider this poem against the whole body of Wheatley's poems and letters. Slave Narratives Overview & Examples | What is a Slave Narrative? She is grateful for being made a slave, so she can receive the dubious benefits of the civilization into which she has been transplanted. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Whilst there is no mention of the physical voyage or abduction or emotional stress, the experience came about through the compassion of God. Vincent Carretta and Philip Gould explain such a model in their introduction to Genius in Bondage: Literature of the Early Black Atlantic. Like them (the line seems to suggest), "Once I redemption neither sought nor knew" (4; my emphasis). She addresses Christians, which in her day would have included most important people in America, in government, education, and the clergy. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. To be "benighted" is to be in moral or spiritual darkness as a result of ignorance or lack of enlightenment, certainly a description with which many of Wheatley's audience would have agreed. And indeed, Wheatley's use of the expression "angelic train" probably refers to more than the divinely chosen, who are biblically identified as celestial bodies, especially stars (Daniel 12:13); this biblical allusion to Isaiah may also echo a long history of poetic usage of similar language, typified in Milton's identification of the "gems of heaven" as the night's "starry train" (Paradise Lost 4:646). Further, because the membership of the "some" is not specified (aside from their common attitude), the audience is not automatically classified as belonging with them. She had been enslaved for most of her life at this point, and upon her return to America and close to the deaths of her owners, she was freed from slavery. The later poem exhibits an even greater level of complexity and authorial control, with Wheatley manipulating her audience by even more covert means. Following the poem (from Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773), are some observations about its treatment of the theme of . She was baptized a Christian and began publishing her own poetry in her early teens. Rather than a direct appeal to a specific group, one with which the audience is asked to identify, this short poem is a meditation on being black and Christian in colonial America. Back then lynching was very common and not a good thing. Today: African Americans are educated and hold political office, even becoming serious contenders for the office of president of the United States. Saviour In regards to the meter, Wheatley makes use of the most popular pattern, iambic pentameter. An overview of Wheatley's life and work. The major themes of the poem are Christianity, redemption and salvation, and racial equality. It is supremely ironic and tragic that she died in poverty and neglect in the city of Boston; yet she left as her legacy the proof of what she asserts in her poems, that she was a free spirit who could speak with authority and equality, regardless of origins or social constraints. "On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley". I feel like its a lifeline. Educated and enslaved in the household of prominent Boston commercialist John Wheatley, lionized in New England and England, with presses in both places . In fact, although the lines of the first quatrain in "On Being Brought from Africa to America" are usually interpreted as celebrating the mercy of her white captors, they are more accurately read as celebrating the mercy of God for delivering her from sin. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. 4 Pages. She describes Africa as a "Pagan land." Wheatley is guiding her readers to ask: How could good Christian people treat other human beings in such a horrific way? In fact, it might end up being desirable, spiritually, morally, one day. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. These were pre-Revolutionary days, and Wheatley imbibed the excitement of the era, recording the Boston Massacre in a 1770 poem. This style of poetry hardly appeals today because poets adhering to it strove to be objective and used elaborate and decorous language thought to be elevated. She admits that people are scornful of her race and that she came from a pagan background. The poem On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley is a poetic representation of dark period in American history when slave trade was prominent in society. While Wheatley's poetry gave fuel to abolitionists who argued that blacks were rational and human and therefore ought not be treated as beasts, Thomas Jefferson found Wheatley's poems imitative and beneath notice. By tapping into the common humanity that lies at the heart of Christian doctrine, Wheatley poses a gentle but powerful challenge to racism in America. Metaphor. 2, December 1975, pp. The elegy usually has several parts, such as praising the dead, picturing them in heaven, and consoling the mourner with religious meditations. The refinement the poet invites the reader to assess is not merely the one referred to by Isaiah, the spiritual refinement through affliction. Specifically, Wheatley deftly manages two biblical allusions in her last line, both to Isaiah. The first episode in a special series on the womens movement. Line 4 goes on to further illustrate how ignorant Wheatley was before coming to America: she did not even know enough to seek the redemption of her soul. POEM SUMMARY One of Wheatley's better known pieces of poetry is "On being brought from Africa to America.". The poem's rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD and is organized into four couplets, which are paired lines of rhymed verse. This was the legacy of philosophers such as John Locke who argued against absolute monarchy, saying that government should be a social contract with the people; if the people are not being served, they have a right to rebel. It is no accident that what follows in the final lines is a warning about the rewards for the redeemed after death when they "join th' angelic train" (8). This is an eight-line poem written in iambic pentameter. 92-93, 97, 101, 115. Importantly, she mentions that the act of understanding God and Savior comes from the soul. The first four lines concentrate on the retrospective experience of the speaker - having gained knowledge of the new religion, Christianity, she can now say that she is a believer, a convert. Text is very difficult to understand. Her strategy relies on images, references, and a narrative position that would have been strikingly familiar to her audience. The brief poem Harlem introduces themes that run throughout Langston Hughess volume Montage of a Dream Deferred and throughout his, Langston Hughes 19021967 The black race itself was thought to stem from the murderer and outcast Cain, of the Bible. In effect, she was attempting a degree of integration into Western culture not open to, and perhaps not even desired by, many African Americans. Providing a comprehensive and inspiring perspective in The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., remarks on the irony that "Wheatley, having been pain-stakingly authenticated in her own time, now stands as a symbol of falsity, artificiality, of spiritless and rote convention." Phillis Wheatley Poems & Facts | What Was Phillis Wheatley Known For? Instant PDF downloads. Adding insult to injury, Wheatley co-opts the rhetoric of this groupthose who say of blacks that "Their colour is a diabolic die" (6)using their own words against them. The members of this group are not only guilty of the sin of reviling others (which Wheatley addressed in the Harvard poem) but also guilty for failing to acknowledge God's work in saving "Negroes." A Narrative of the Captivity by Mary Rowlandson | Summary, Analysis & Themes, 12th Grade English Curriculum Resource & Lesson Plans, ICAS English - Papers I & J: Test Prep & Practice, Common Core ELA - Literature Grades 9-10: Standards, College English Literature: Help and Review, Create an account to start this course today. The poet glorifies the warship in this poem that battled the war of 1812. Wheatley's identity was therefore somehow bound up with the country's in a visible way, and that is why from that day to this, her case has stood out, placing not only her views on trial but the emerging country's as well, as Gates points out. Phillis Wheatley was born in Gambia, Africa, in 1753. Wheatley does not reflect on this complicity except to see Africa as a land, however beautiful and Eden-like, devoid of the truth. Although she was captured and violently brought across the ocean from the west shores of Africa in a slave boat, a frail and naked child of seven or eight, and nearly dead by the time she arrived in Boston, Wheatley actually hails God's kindness for his delivering her from a heathen land.