(Born Thelma Lucille Sayles) American poet, autobiographer, and author of children's books. While ostensibly about the fate of those black Christians who see the light and are saved, the final line in "On Being Brought From Africa to America" is also a reminder to the members of her audience about their own fate should they choose unwisely. In effect, both poems serve as litmus tests for true Christianity while purporting to affirm her redemption. Andersen holds a PhD in literature and teaches literature and writing. 2 Wheatley, "On the Death of General Wooster," in Call and Response, p. 103.. 3 Horton, "The Slave's Complaint," in Call and Response, pp. For instance, the use of the word sable to describe the skin color of her race imparts a suggestion of rarity and richness that also makes affiliation with the group of which she is a part something to be desired and even sought after. She was about twenty years old, black, and a woman. Wheatley may also be using the rhetorical device of bringing up the opponent's worst criticism in order to defuse it. Phillis was known as a prodigy, devouring the literary classics and the poetry of the day. INTRODUCTION. This poem also uses imperative language, which is language used to command or to tell another character or the reader what to do. As Wheatley pertinently wrote in "On Imagination" (1773), which similarly mingles religious and aesthetic refinements, she aimed to embody "blooming graces" in the "triumph of [her] song" (Mason 78). This very religious poem is similar to many others that have been written over the last four hundred years. Learning Objectives. Phillis Wheatley was an internationally known American poet of the late 18th century. 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. "Taught my benighted soul to understand" (Line 2) "Once I redemption neither sought nor knew." (Line 4) "'Their colour is a diabolic die.'" (Line 6) "May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train." (Line 8) Report Quiz. She places everyone on the same footing, in spite of any polite protestations related to racial origins. The speaker makes a claim, an observation, implying that black people are seen as no better than animals - a sable - to be treated as merchandise and nothing more. On the other hand, Gilbert Imlay, a writer and diplomat, disagreed with Jefferson, holding Wheatley's genius to be superior to Jefferson's. That there was an audience for her work is beyond question; the white response to her poetry was mixed (Robinson 39-46), and certain black responses were dramatic (Huddleston; Jamison). In 1773 her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (which includes "On Being Brought from Africa. Wheatley is talking about the people who live in Africa; they have not yet been exposed to Christianity or the idea of salvation. Smith, Eleanor, "Phillis Wheatley: A Black Perspective," in Journal of Negro Education, Vol. Hitler made white noise relating to death through his radical ideas on the genocide of Jews in the Second World War. By using this meter, Wheatley was attempting to align her poetry with that of the day, making sure that the primary white readers would accept it. 19, No. 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. Read Wheatley's poems and letters and compare her concerns, in an essay, to those of other African American authors of any period. Benjamin Rush, a prominent abolitionist, holds that Wheatley's "singular genius and accomplishments are such as not only do honor to her sex, but to human nature." The line in which the reference appears also conflates Christians and Negroes, making the mark of Cain a reference to any who are unredeemed. In returning the reader circularly to the beginning of the poem, this word transforms its biblical authorization into a form of exemplary self-authorization. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"cajhZ6VFWaUJG3veQ.det3ab.5UanemT4_W4vp5lfYs-86400-0"}; Line 6, in quotations, gives a typical jeer of a white person about black people. According to "The American Crisis", God will aid the colonists and not aid the king of England because. There are many themes explored in this poem. She started writing poetry at age 14 and published her first poem in 1767. Rather than creating distinctions, the speaker actually collapses those which the "some" have worked so hard to create and maintain, the source of their dwindling authority (at least within the precincts of the poem). Figures of speech are literary devices that are also used throughout our society and help relay important ideas in a meaningful way. In this book was the poem that is now taught in schools and colleges all over the world, a fitting tribute to the first-ever black female poet in America. Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land. In line 7 specifically, she points out the irony of Christian people with Christian values treating Black people unfairly and cruelly. Wheatley proudly offers herself as proof of that miracle. She knew redemption through this transition and banished all sorrow from her life. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers, Basic Civitas Books, 2003, pp. This is a metaphor. It is through you visiting Poem Analysis that we are able to contribute to charity. The poem consists of: A single stanza of eight lines, with full rhyme and classic iambic pentameter beat, it basically says that black people can become Christian believers and in this respect are just the same as everyone else. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Question 4 (2 points) Identify a type of figurative language in the following lines of Phillis Wheatley's On Being Brought from Africa to America. What were their beliefs about slavery? The refinement the poet invites the reader to assess is not merely the one referred to by Isaiah, the spiritual refinement through affliction. , Carretta and Gould note the problems of being a literate black in the eighteenth century, having more than one culture or language. Figurative language is used in this poem. Recent critics looking at the whole body of her work have favorably established the literary quality of her poems and her unique historical achievement. The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain; Majestic grandeur! Figurative language is used in literature like poetry, drama, prose and even speeches. While it is a short poem a lot of information can be taken away from it. Poet and World Traveler In the meanwhile, until you change your minds, enjoy the firefight! Wheatley's growing fame led Susanna Wheatley to advertise for a subscription to publish a whole book of her poems. Levernier, James, "Style as Process in the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley," in Style, Vol. This line is meaningful to an Evangelical Christian because one's soul needs to be in a state of grace, or sanctified by Christ, upon leaving the earth. A strong reminder in line 7 is aimed at those who see themselves as God-fearing - Christians - and is a thinly veiled manifesto, somewhat ironic, declaring that all people are equal in the eyes of God, capable of joining the angelic host. PART B: Which phrase from the text best supports the answer to Part A? Wheatley makes use of several literary devices in On Being Brought from Africa to America. Redemption and Salvation: The speaker states that had she not been taken from her homeland and brought to America, she would never have known that there was a God and that she needed saving. Do you think that the judgment in the 1970s by black educators that Wheatley does not teach values that are good for African American students has merit today? for the Use of Schools. Black people, who were enslaved and thought of as evil by some people, can be of Christian faith and go to Heaven. This is a reference to the biblical Book of Genesis and the two sons of Adam. This, she thinks, means that anyone, no matter their skin tone or where theyre from, can find God and salvation. Of course, Wheatley's poetry does document a black experience in America, namely, Wheatley's alone, in her unique and complex position as slave, Christian, American, African, and woman of letters. POETRY POSSIBILITES for BLACK HISTORY MONTH is a collection of poems about notable African Americans and the history of Blacks in America. This failed due to doubt that a slave could write poetry. Following her previous rhetorical clues, the only ones who can accept the title of "Christian" are those who have made the decision not to be part of the "some" and to admit that "Negroes / May be refin'd and join th' angelic train" (7-8). 18 On being brought from AFRICA to AMERICA. Began Writing at an Early Age The use of th and refind rather than the and refined in this line is an example of syncope. Being brought from Africa to America, otherwise known as the transatlantic slave trade, was a horrific and inhumane experience for millions of African people. White people are given a lesson in basic Christian ethics. Have a specific question about this poem? Wheatley's criticisms steam mostly form the figurative language in the poem. "Their colour is a diabolic die.". also Observation on English Versification , Etc. The poet needs some extrinsic warrant for making this point in the artistic maneuvers of her verse. by Phillis Wheatley. That is, she applies the doctrine to the black race. The elegy usually has several parts, such as praising the dead, picturing them in heaven, and consoling the mourner with religious meditations. Despite the hardships endured and the terrible injustices suffered there is a dignified approach to the situation. Despite what might first come to someones mind who knows anything about slavery in the United States, she saw it as an act of kindness. Parks, writing in Black World that same year, describes a Mississippi poetry festival where Wheatley's poetry was read in a way that made her "Blacker." Eleanor Smith, in her 1974 article in the Journal of Negro Education, pronounces Wheatley too white in her values to be of any use to black people. Walker, Alice, "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Honoring the Creativity of the Black Woman," in Jackson State Review, Vol. The poem uses the principles of Protestant meditation, which include contemplating various Christian themes like one's own death or salvation. Had the speaker stayed in Africa, she would have never encountered Christianity. Elvis made white noise while disrupting conventional ideas with his sexual appeal in performances. 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. Although she was an enslaved person, Phillis Wheatley Peters was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. In this lesson, students will. Line 3 further explains what coming into the light means: knowing God and Savior. There was a shallop floating on the Wye, among the gray rocks and leafy woods of Chepstow. They signed their names to a document, and on that basis Wheatley was able to publish in London, though not in Boston. being Brought from Africa to America." In the poem "Wheatley chose to use the meditation as the form for her contemplation of her enslavement." (Frazier) In the poem "On being Brought from Africa to America." Phillis Wheatley uses different poetic devices like figurative language, form, and irony to express the hypocrisy of American racism. There are poems in which she idealizes the African climate as Eden, and she constantly identifies herself in her poems as the Afric muse. As her poem indicates, with the help of God, she has overcome, and she exhorts others that they may do the same. The latter is implied, at least religiously, in the last lines. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. 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. In effect, the reader is invited to return to the start of the poem and judge whether, on the basis of the work itself, the poet has proven her point about the equality of the two races in the matter of cultural well as spiritual refinement. No wonder, then, that thinkers as great as Jefferson professed to be puzzled by Wheatley's poetry. Christianity: The speaker of this poem talks about how it was God's "mercy" that brought her to America. 23 Feb. 2023 . Alliteration occurs with diabolic dye and there is an allusion to the old testament character Cain, son of Adam and Eve. In these ways, then, the biblical and aesthetic subtleties of Wheatley's poem make her case about refinement. Remember: This is just a sample from a fellow student. The black race itself was thought to stem from the murderer and outcast Cain, of the Bible. 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. The result is that those who would cast black Christians as other have now been placed in a like position. "On Being Brought from Africa to America //