Educated and enslaved in the household of . His art moved from figurative abstraction to nonrepresentational multiform grids of glowing, layered colors (Figure 15). Generally in her work, Wheatley devotes more attention to the soul's rising heavenward and to consoling and exhorting those left behind than writers of conventional elegies have. In the case of her readers, such failure is more likely the result of the erroneous belief that they have been saved already. Jefferson, a Founding Father and thinker of the new Republic, felt that blacks were too inferior to be citizens. Even Washington was reluctant to use black soldiers, as William H. Robinson points out in Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. Could the United States be a land of freedom and condone slavery? POETRY POSSIBILITES for BLACK HISTORY MONTH is a collection of poems about notable African Americans and the history of Blacks in America. 1, 2002, pp. The "authentic" Christian is the one who "gets" the puns and double entendres and ironies, the one who is able to participate fully in Wheatley's rhetorical performance. The collection was such an astonishing testimony to the intelligence of her race that John Wheatley had to assemble a group of eighteen prominent citizens of Boston to attest to the poet's competency. Wheatley makes use of several literary devices in On Being Brought from Africa to America. Personification. Read Wheatley's poems and letters and compare her concerns, in an essay, to those of other African American authors of any period. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Source: William J. Scheick, "Phillis Wheatley's Appropriation of Isaiah," in Early American Literature, Vol. She was the first African American to publish a full book, although other slave authors, such as Lucy Terry and Jupiter Hammon, had printed individual poems before her. Additional information about Wheatley's life, upbringing, and education, including resources for further research. For example: land/understandCain/train. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. America has given the women equal educational advantages, and America, we believe, will enfranchise them. 1'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land. Parks, Carole A., "Phillis Wheatley Comes Home," in Black World, Vo. 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. In the following excerpt, Balkun analyzes "On Being Brought from Africa to America" and asserts that Wheatley uses the rhetoric of white culture to manipulate her audience. . Get LitCharts A +. To the University of Cambridge, in New England. Show all. Barbara Evans. Began Writing at an Early Age Shuffelton also surmises why Native American cultural production was prized while black cultural objects were not. Slaves felt that Christianity validated their equality with their masters. There is a good example of an allusion in the last lines when the poet refers to Cain. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. There is no mention of forgiveness or of wrongdoing. The enslavement of Africans in the American colonies grew steadily from the early seventeenth century until by 1860 there were about four million slaves in the United States. The latter is implied, at least religiously, in the last lines. Pagan is defined as "a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions." 372-73. This discrepancy between the rhetoric of freedom and the fact of slavery was often remarked upon in Europe. Erkkila, Betsy, "Phillis Wheatley and the Black American Revolution," in A Mixed Race: Ethnicity in Early America, edited by Frank Shuffelton, Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. It is used within both prose and verse writing. She has master's degrees in French and in creative writing. To S. M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works. She wrote about her pride in her African heritage and religion. In "On Being Brought from Africa to America" Wheatley alludes twice to Isaiah to refute stereotypical readings of skin color; she interprets these passages to refer to the mutual spiritual benightedness of both races, as equal diabolically-dyed descendants of Cain. 1, edited by Nina Baym, Norton, 1998, p. 825. Source: Susan Andersen, Critical Essay on "On Being Brought from Africa to America," in Poetry for Students, Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009. The speaker then discusses how many white people unfairly looked down on African American people. Specifically, Wheatley deftly manages two biblical allusions in her last line, both to Isaiah. Wheatley's criticisms steam mostly form the figurative language in the poem. The way the content is organized. 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. Shuffelton, Frank, "Thomas Jefferson: Race, Culture, and the Failure of Anthropological Method," in A Mixed Race: Ethnicity in Early America, edited by Frank Shuffelton, Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. There was no precedent for it. It is important to pay attention to the rhyming end words, as often this can elucidate the meaning of the poem. That Wheatley sometimes applied biblical language and allusions to undercut colonial assumptions about race has been documented (O'Neale), and that she had a special fondness for the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah is intimated by her verse paraphrase entitled "Isaiah LXIII. Levernier considers Wheatley predominantly in view of her unique position as a black poet in Revolutionary white America. The poem describes Wheatley's experience as a young girl who was enslaved and brought to the American colonies in 1761. Her strategy relies on images, references, and a narrative position that would have been strikingly familiar to her audience. It seems most likely that Wheatley refers to the sinful quality of any person who has not seen the light of God. Many of her elegies meditate on the soul in heaven, as she does briefly here in line 8. Some of the best include: Sign up to unveil the best kept secrets in poetry, Home Phillis Wheatley On Being Brought from Africa to America. Speaking of one of his visions, the prophet observes, "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). Tracing the fight for equality and womens rights through poetry. SOURCES For Wheatley's management of the concept of refinement is doubly nuanced in her poem. So many in the world do not know God or Christ. 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. too: The poem is known as a superb literary piece written about a ship or a frigate. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Here are 10 common figures of speech and some examples of the same figurative language in use: Simile. The Quakers were among the first to champion the abolition of slavery. She also means the aesthetic refinement that likewise (evidently in her mind at least) may accompany spiritual refinement. In "On Being Brought from Africa to America," the author, Phillis Wheatley uses diction and punctuation to develop a subtle ironic tone. The Lord's attendant train is the retinue of the chosen referred to in the preceding allusion to Isaiah in Wheatley's poem. She was intended to be a personal servant to the wife of John Wheatley. What were their beliefs about slavery? INTRODUCTION Her poems thus typically move dramatically in the same direction, from an extreme point of sadness (here, the darkness of the lost soul and the outcast, Cain) to the certainty of the saved joining the angelic host (regardless of the color of their skin). Taught my benighted soul to understand Conditions on board some of the slave ships are known to have been horrendous; many died from illness; many were drowned. In "Letters to Birmingham," Martin Luther King uses figurative language and literary devices to show his distress and disappointment with a group of clergyman who do not support the peaceful protests for equality. These include but are not limited to: The first, personification, is seen in the first lines in which the poet says it was mercy that brought her to America. In Jackson State Review, the African American author and feminist Alice Walker makes a similar remark about her own mother, and about the creative black woman in general: "Whatever rocky soil she landed on, she turned into a garden.". This powerful statement introduces the idea that prejudice, bigotry, and racism toward black people are wrong and anti-Christian. , "On Being Brought from Africa to America," in The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. Thus, in order to participate fully in the meaning of the poem, the audience must reject the false authority of the "some," an authority now associated with racism and hypocrisy, and accept instead the authority that the speaker represents, an authority based on the tenets of Christianity. Why, then, does she seem to destroy her argument and admit that the African race is black like Cain, the first murderer in the Bible? Andersen holds a PhD in literature and teaches literature and writing. Although she was an enslaved person, Phillis Wheatley Peters was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. The major themes of the poem are Christianity, redemption and salvation, and racial equality. 135-40. A discussionof Phillis Wheatley's controversial status within the African American community. 2002 4, 1974, p. 95. 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. The idea that the speaker was brought to America by some force beyond her power to fight it (a sentiment reiterated from "To the University of Cambridge") once more puts her in an authoritative position. Calling herself such a lost soul here indicates her understanding of what she was before being saved by her religion. Nevertheless, in her association of spiritual and aesthetic refinement, she also participates in an extensive tradition of religious poets, like George Herbert and Edward Taylor, who fantasized about the correspondence between their spiritual reconstruction and the aesthetic grace of their poetry. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Wheatley, however, applies the doctrine of salvation in an unusual way for most of her readers; she broadens it into a political or sociological discussion as well. Slave Narratives Overview & Examples | What is a Slave Narrative? She was the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry and was brought to America and enslaved in 1761. To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name Avis, Aged One Year. When the un-Christian speak of "their color," they might just as easily be pointing to the white members of the audience who have accepted the invitation into Wheatley's circle. 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. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Wheatley calls herself an adventurous Afric, and so she was, mastering the materials given to her to create with. In fact, all three readings operate simultaneously to support Wheatley's argument. Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are . The very distinctions that the "some" have created now work against them. In addition, their color is consider evil. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. The transatlantic slave trade lasted from the early 16th century to the late 19th century and involved the forced relocation and enslavement of approximately 12.5 million African people. They have become, within the parameters of the poem at least, what they once abhorredbenighted, ignorant, lost in moral darkness, unenlightenedbecause they are unable to accept the redemption of Africans. Wheatley's first name, Phillis, comes from the name of the ship . This, she thinks, means that anyone, no matter their skin tone or where theyre from, can find God and salvation. Her being saved was not truly the whites' doing, for they were but instruments, and she admonishes them in the second quatrain for being too cocky. Educated and enslaved in the household of prominent Boston commercialist John Wheatley, lionized in New England and England, with presses in both places publishing her poems,. The first four lines of the poem could be interpreted as a justification for enslaving Africans, or as a condoning of such a practice, since the enslaved would at least then have a chance at true religion. Iambic pentameter is traditional in English poetry, and Wheatley's mostly white and educated audience would be very familiar with it. All the end rhymes are full. For example, her speaker claims that it was "mercy" that took her out of "my Pagan land" and into America where she was enslaved. Particularly apt is the clever syntax of the last two lines of the poem: "Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain / May be refin'd." Explore "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley wrote in neoclassical couplets of iambic pentameter, following the example of the most popular English poet of the times, Alexander Pope. As Christian people, they are supposed to be "refin'd," or to behave in a blessed and educated manner. "May be refined" can be read either as synonymous for can or as a warning: No one, neither Christians nor Negroes, should take salvation for granted. In this verse, however, Wheatley has adeptly managed biblical allusions to do more than serve as authorizations for her writing; as finally managed in her poem, these allusions also become sites where this license is transformed into an artistry that in effect becomes exemplarily self-authorized. In 1773 her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (which includes "On Being Brought from Africa. Neoclassical was a term applied to eighteenth-century literature of the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, in Europe.