On Being Brought From Africa to Americabrings out Wheatley as a preacher. By making religion a matter between God and the individual soul, an Evangelical belief, she removes the discussion from social opinion or reference. Response to Jenn's Prompt: What is the most prominent feeling (or emotion) presented by Wheatley here? 2, December 1975, pp. — An overview of Wheatley's life and work. The poem describes Wheatley's experience as a young girl who was enslaved and brought to the American colonies in 1761. She belonged to a revolutionary family and their circle, and although she had English friends, when the Revolution began, she was on the side of the colonists, reflecting, of course, on the hope of future liberty for her fellow slaves as well. Began Writing at an Early Age As a title, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is about as straightforward as you can get. Both races inherit the barbaric blackness of sin. , Notably, it was likely that Wheatley, like many slaves, had been sold by her own countrymen. 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. Irony is also common in neoclassical poetry, with the building up and then breaking down of expectations, and this occurs in lines 7 and 8. 1-8." 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a … These documents are often anthologized along with the Declaration of Independence as proof, as Wheatley herself said to the Native American preacher Samson Occom, that freedom is an innate right. Such a person did not fit any known stereotype or category. She was planning a second volume of poems, dedicated to Benjamin Franklin, when the Revolutionary War broke out. FURT…, Wheatley, Phillis If it is not, one cannot enter eternal bliss in heaven. The need for a postcolonial criticism arose in the twentieth century, as centuries of European political domination of foreign lands were coming to a close. Over a third of her poems in the 1773 volume were elegies, or consolations for the death of a loved one. 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. Levernier, James, "Style as Process in the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley," in Style, Vol. We know she was raised by the Wheatley family, a prominent white family in Boston, and they made sure Phillis received a formal education, and, it sounds like, a formal introduction to Christianity. This voice is an important feature of her poem. 189, 193. THEMES The liberty she takes here exceeds her additions to the biblical narrative paraphrased in her verse "Isaiah LXIII. Today, a handful of her poems are widely anthologized, but her place in American letters and black studies is still debated. In these ways, then, the biblical and aesthetic subtleties of Wheatley's poem make her case about refinement. The justification was given that the participants in a republican government must possess the faculty of reason, and it was widely believed that Africans were not fully human or in possession of adequate reason. A resurgence of interest in Wheatley during the 1960s and 1970s, with the rise of African American studies, led again to mixed opinions, this time among black readers. Her published book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), might have propelled her to greater prominence, but the Revolutionary War interrupted her momentum, and Wheatley, set free by her master, suddenly had to support herself. 1, 2002, pp. Perhaps her sense of self in this instance demonstrates the degree to which she took to heart Enlightenment theories concerning personal liberty as an innate human right; these theories were especially linked to the abolitionist arguments advanced by the New England clergy with whom she had contact (Levernier, "Phillis"). She did light housework because of her frailty and often visited and conversed in the social circles of Boston, the pride of her masters. 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. The definition of pagan, as used in line 1, is thus challenged by Wheatley in a sense, as the poem celebrates that the term does not denote a permanent category if a pagan individual can be saved. For the unenlightened reader, the poems may well seem to be hackneyed and pedestrian pleas for acceptance; for the true Christian, they become a validation of one's status as a member of the elect, regardless of race …. This is why she can never love tyranny. Later rebellions in the South were often fostered by black Christian ministers, a tradition that was epitomized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s civil rights movement. As such, though she inherited the Puritan sense of original sin and resignation in death, she focuses on the element of comfort for the bereaved. . Betsy Erkkila describes this strategy as "a form of mimesis that mimics and mocks in the act of repeating" ("Revolutionary" 206). The opening sentiments would have been easily appreciated by Wheatley's contemporary white audience, but the last four lines exhorted them to reflect on their assumptions about the black race. "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. Although her intended audience is not black, she still refers to "our sable race." ———, ed., Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley, G. K. Hall, 1982, pp. 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. 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 result is that those who would cast black Christians as other have now been placed in a like position. Biography of Phillis Wheatley In consideration of all her poems and letters, evidence is now available for her own antislavery views. Wheatley's revision of this myth possibly emerges in part as a result of her indicative use of italics, which equates Christians, Negros, and Cain (Levernier, "Wheatley's"); it is even more likely that this revisionary sense emerges as a result of the positioning of the comma after the word Negros. Baker, Houston A., Jr., Workings of the Spirit: The Poetics of Afro-American Women's Writing, University of Chicago Press, 1991. Shockley, Ann Allen, Afro-American Women Writers, 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide, G. K. Hall, 1988. — An online version of Wheatley's poetry collection, including "On Being Brought from Africa to America.". Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Indeed, racial issues in Wheatley's day were of primary importance as the new nation sought to shape its identity. "Their colour is a diabolic die.". It has been variously read as a direct address to Christians, Wheatley's declaration that both the supposed Christians in her audience and the Negroes are as "black as Cain," and her way of indicating that the terms Christians and Negroes are synonymous. , black as The question of slavery weighed heavily on the revolutionaries, for it ran counter to the principles of government that they were fighting for. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Wheatley's growing fame led Susanna Wheatley to advertise for a subscription to publish a whole book of her poems. While she had Loyalist friends and British patrons, Wheatley sympathized with the rebels, not only because her owners were of that persuasion, but also because many slaves believed that they would gain their freedom with the cause of the Revolution. 24, 27-31, 33, 36, 42-43, 47. "In every human breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Lov…, Gwendolyn Brooks 1917–2000 Wheatley was in the midst of the historic American Revolution in the Boston of the 1770s. This condition ironically coexisted with strong antislavery sentiment among the Christian Evangelical and Whig populations of the city, such as the Wheatleys, who themselves were slaveholders. by Phillis Wheatley . Even Washington was reluctant to use black soldiers, as William H. Robinson points out in Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. Both black and white critics have wrestled with placing her properly in either American studies or African American studies. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' is a short but powerful poem that illustrates the complexity of Phillis Wheatley's life as an educated but enslaved African American woman. Source: William J. Scheick, "Phillis Wheatley's Appropriation of Isaiah," in Early American Literature, Vol. The difficulties she may have encountered in America are nothing to her, compared to possibly having remained unsaved. 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. Read Wheatley's poems and letters and compare her concerns, in an essay, to those of other African American authors of any period. She now offers readers an opportunity to participate in their own salvation: The speaker, carefully aligning herself with those readers who will understand the subtlety of her allusions and references, creates a space wherein she and they are joined against a common antagonist: the "some" who "view our sable race with scornful eye" (5). The major themes are slavery, Christianity, and redemption. Levernier considers Wheatley predominantly in view of her unique position as a black poet in Revolutionary white America. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/being-brought-africa-america, "On Being Brought from Africa to America 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. That is, she applies the doctrine to the black race. Therein, she implores him to right America's wrongs and be a just administrator. What difficulties did they face in considering the abolition of the institution in the formation of the new government? If Wheatley's image of "angelic train" participates in the heritage of such poetic discourse, then it also suggests her integration of aesthetic authority and biblical authority at this final moment of her poem. Rigsby, Gregory, "Form and Content in Phillis Wheatley's Elegies," in College Language Association Journal, Vol. These lines can be read to say that Christians—Wheatley uses the term Christians to refer to the white race—should remember that the black race is also a recipient of spiritual refinement; but these same lines can also be read to suggest that Christians should remember that in a spiritual sense both white and black people are the sin-darkened descendants of Cain. In line 1 of "On Being Brought from Africa to America," as she does throughout her poems and letters, Wheatley praises the mercy of God for singling her out for redemption. The last two lines refer to the equality inherent in Christian doctrine in regard to salvation, for Christ accepted everyone. Wheatley's mistress encouraged her writing and helped her publish her first pieces in newspapers and pamphlets. Even before the Revolution, black slaves in Massachusetts were making legal petitions for their freedom on the basis of their natural rights. Give a report on the history of Quaker involvement in the antislavery movement. Boren, M.E. 1'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land. Wheatley’s work is convincing based on its content. Nor does Wheatley construct this group as specifically white, so that once again she resists antagonizing her white readers. In her poems on atheism and deism she addresses anyone who does not accept Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as a lost soul. It seems most likely that Wheatley refers to the sinful quality of any person who has not seen the light of God. Speaking for God, the prophet at one point says, "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10). 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. It is supposed that she was a native of Senegal or nearby, since the ship took slaves from the west coast of Africa. Source: Susan Andersen, Critical Essay on "On Being Brought from Africa to America," in Poetry for Students, Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009. The elegy usually has several parts, such as praising the dead, picturing them in heaven, and consoling the mourner with religious meditations. Wheatley, Phillis, Complete Writings, edited by Vincent Carretta, Penguin Books, 2001. 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. Phillis was known as a prodigy, devouring the literary classics and the poetry of the day. An example is the precedent of General Colin Powell, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War (a post equal to Washington's during the Revolution). Once again, Wheatley co-opts the rhetoric of the other. 3. She was so celebrated and famous in her day that she was entertained in London by nobility and moved among intellectuals with respect. Many readers today are offended by this line as making Africans sound too dull or brainwashed by religion to realize the severity of their plight in America. 'Twas mercy brought me from my It is easy to see the calming influence she must have had on the people who sought her out for her soothing thoughts on the deaths of children, wives, ministers, and public figures, praising their virtues and their happy state in heaven. The first two children died in infancy, and the third died along with Wheatley herself in December 1784 in poverty in a Boston boardinghouse. Her poems have the familiar invocations to the muses (the goddesses of inspiration), references to Greek and Roman gods and stories, like the tragedy of Niobe, and place names like Olympus and Parnassus. She was about twenty years old, black, and a woman. Following the poem (from Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773), are some observations about its treatment of the theme of enslavement: On being brought from Africa to America. Not enter eternal bliss in heaven management of the chosen referred to in the of. 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