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). She adds that in case he wonders why she loves freedom, it is because she was kidnapped from her native Africa and thinks of the suffering of her parents. Wheatley's cultural awareness is even more evident in the poem "On Being Brought From Africa to America," written the year after the Harvard poem in 1768. The African slave who would be named Phillis Wheatley and who would gain fame as a Boston poet during the American Revolution arrived in America on a slave ship on July 11, 1761. The liberty she takes here exceeds her additions to the biblical narrative paraphrased in her verse "Isaiah LXIII. To the extent that the audience responds affirmatively to the statements and situations Wheatley has set forth in the poem, that is the extent to which they are authorized to use the classification "Christian." 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. Phillis Wheatley. The power of the poem of heroic couplets is that it builds upon its effect, with each couplet completing a thought, creating the building blocks of a streamlined argument. On the other hand, by bringing up Cain, she confronts the popular European idea that the black race sprang from Cain, who murdered his brother Abel and was punished by having a mark put on him as an outcast. 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. Get the entire guide to On Being Brought from Africa to America as a printable PDF. More on Wheatley's work from PBS, including illustrations of her poems and a portraitof the poet herself. 4 Pages. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Taking Offense Religion, Art, and Visual Culture in Plural Configurations She published her first poem in 1767, later becoming a household name. In this poem, Wheatley posits that all people, from all races, can be saved by Christianity. Stock illustration from Getty Images. 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. She did not seek redemption and did not even know that she needed it. This legitimation is implied when in the last line of the poem Wheatley tells her readers to remember that sinners "May be refin'd and join th' angelic train." Calling herself such a lost soul here indicates her understanding of what she was before being saved by her religion. Research the history of slavery in America and why it was an important topic for the founders in their planning for the country. 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. 1 Phillis Wheatley, "On Being Brought from Africa to America," in Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition, ed. At this time, most African American people were unable to read and write, so Wheatley's education was quite unusual. 422. And she must have had in mind her subtle use of biblical allusions, which may also contain aesthetic allusions. This powerful statement introduces the idea that prejudice, bigotry, and racism toward black people are wrong and anti-Christian. the English people have a tremendous hatred for God. Her strategy relies on images, references, and a narrative position that would have been strikingly familiar to her audience. These lines can be read to say that ChristiansWheatley uses the term Christians to refer to the white raceshould 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. Poem Solutions Limited International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, Discover and learn about the greatest poetry ever straight to your inbox, Discover and learn about the greatest poetry, straight to your inbox. Instant PDF downloads. . Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' is a poem by Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-84), who was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral appeared in 1773 when she was probably still in her early twenties. 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). Slave, poet The inclusion of the white prejudice in the poem is very effective, for it creates two effects. Shields, John C., "Phillis Wheatley and the Sublime," in Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley, edited by William H. Robinson, G. K. Hall, 1982, pp. She is grateful for being made a slave, so she can receive the dubious benefits of the civilization into which she has been transplanted. Open Document. The Challenge "There are more things in heav'n and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."Hamlet. The poem is more complicated that it initially appears. She demonstrates in the course of her art that she is no barbarian from a "Pagan land" who raises Cain (in the double sense of transgressing God and humanity). 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. This article seeks to analyze two works of black poetry, On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley and I, too, Sing . This is a chronological anthology of black women writers from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the early twentieth century. 15 chapters | There is a good example of an allusion in the last lines when the poet refers to Cain. . 1, edited by Nina Baym, Norton, 1998, p. 825. America has given the women equal educational advantages, and America, we believe, will enfranchise them. The image of night is used here primarily in a Christian sense to convey ignorance or sin, but it might also suggest skin color, as some readers feel. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Cain - son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel through jealousy. be exposed to another medium of written expression; learn the rules and conventions of poetry, including figurative language, metaphor, simile, symbolism, and point-of-view; learn five strategies for analyzing poetry; and 92-93, 97, 101, 115. If you have sable or dark-colored skin then you are seen with a scornful eye. Nor does Wheatley construct this group as specifically white, so that once again she resists antagonizing her white readers. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers (2003), contends that Wheatley's reputation as a whitewashed black poet rests almost entirely on interpretations of "On Being Brought from Africa to America," which he calls "the most reviled poem in African-American literature." Those who have contended that Wheatley had no thoughts on slavery have been corrected by such poems as the one to the Earl of Dartmouth, the British secretary of state for North America. May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Wheatley's use of figurative language such as a metaphor and an allusion to spark an uproar and enlighten the reader of how Great Britain saw and treated America as if the young nation was below it. Both black and white critics have wrestled with placing her properly in either American studies or African American studies. The speaker, a slave brought from Africa to America by whites magnifies the discrepancy between the whites' perception of blacks and the reality of the situation. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. 4, 1974, p. 95. al. Wheatley's criticisms steam mostly form the figurative language in the poem. Wheatley gave birth to three children, all of whom died. The speaker then discusses how many white people unfairly looked down on African American people. Popularity of "Old Ironsides": Oliver Wendell Holmes, a great American physician, and poet wrote, "Old Ironsides".It was first published in 1830. 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. In "On Being Brought from Africa to America," the author, Phillis Wheatley uses diction and punctuation to develop a subtle ironic tone. To S. M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works. 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. Hers is an inclusionary rhetoric, reinforcing the similarities between the audience and the speaker of the poem, indeed all "Christians," in an effort to expand the parameters of that word in the minds of her readers. On Virtue. For example, "History is the long and tragic story . Please continue to help us support the fight against dementia with Alzheimer's Research Charity. Wheatley continues her stratagem by reminding the audience of more universal truths than those uttered by the "some." She started writing poetry at age 14 and published her first poem in 1767. 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. In the event that what is at stake has not been made evident enough, Wheatley becomes most explicit in the concluding lines. The way the content is organized. Following the poem (from Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773), are some observations about its treatment of the theme of . Suddenly, the audience is given an opportunity to view racism from a new perspective, and to either accept or reject this new ideological position. Carole A. The Wheatley home was not far from Revolutionary scenes such as the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. ", In the last two lines, Wheatley reminds her audience that all people, regardless of race, can be Christian and be saved. Judging from a full reading of her poems, it does not seem likely that she herself ever accepted such a charge against her race. Patricia Liggins Hill, et. STYLE Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main. 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. While Wheatley included some traditional elements of the elegy, or praise for the dead, in "On Being Brought from Africa to America," she primarily combines sermon and meditation techniques in the poem. Such a person did not fit any known stereotype or category. 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. "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley, is about how Africans were brought from Africa to America but still had faith in God to bring them through. If allowances have finally been made for her difficult position as a slave in Revolutionary Boston, black readers and critics still have not forgiven her the literary sin of writing to white patrons in neoclassical couplets. "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. This question was discussed by the Founding Fathers and the first American citizens as well as by people in Europe. Conducted Reading Tour of the South In this essay, Gates explores the philosophical discussions of race in the eighteenth century, summarizing arguments of David Hume, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson on the nature of "the Negro," and how they affected the reception of Wheatley's poetry. Abolitionists like Rush used Wheatley as proof for the argument of black humanity, an issue then debated by philosophers. She was kidnapped and enslaved at age seven. by Phillis Wheatley. Both races inherit the barbaric blackness of sin. Nevertheless, Wheatley was a legitimate woman of learning and letters who consciously participated in the public discussion of the day, in a voice representing the living truth of what America claimed it stood forwhether or not the slave-owning citizens were prepared to accept it. This failed due to doubt that a slave could write poetry. The European colonization of the Americas inspired a desire for cheap labor for the development of the land. 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, Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. According to Robinson, the Gentleman's Magazine of London and the London Monthly Review disagreed on the quality of the poems but agreed on the ingeniousness of the author, pointing out the shame that she was a slave in a freedom-loving city like Boston. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. There was a shallop floating on the Wye, among the gray rocks and leafy woods of Chepstow. Only eighteen of the African Americans were free. . Wheatley goes on to say that when she was in Africa, she knew neither about the existence of God nor the need of a savior. 3, 1974, pp. She was instructed in Evangelical Christianity from her arrival and was a devout practicing Christian. 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. Wheatley is talking about the people who live in Africa; they have not yet been exposed to Christianity or the idea of salvation. . 121-35. A soul in darkness to Wheatley means someone unconverted. Figurative language is writing that is understood because of its association with a familiar thing, action, or image. Poetic devices are thin on the ground in this short poem but note the thread of silent consonants brought/Taught/benighted/sought and the hard consonants scornful/diabolic/black/th'angelic which bring texture and contrast to the sound. Figurative language is used in this poem. n001 n001. How is it that she was saved? She wants to inform her readers of the opposite factand yet the wording of her confession of faith became proof to later readers that she had sold out, like an Uncle Tom, to her captors' religious propaganda. This could be a reference to anything, including but not limited to an idea, theme, concept, or even another work of literature. Read the full text of On Being Brought from Africa to America, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, "The Privileged and Impoverished Life of Phillis Wheatley". The first is "overtaken by darkness or night," and the second is "existing in a state of intellectual, moral, or social darkness." May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Lastly, the speaker reminds her audience, mostly consisting of white people, that Black people can be Christian people, too. She was in a sinful and ignorant state, not knowing God or Christ. The multiple meanings of the line "Remember, Christians, Negroes black as Cain" (7), with its ambiguous punctuation and double entendres, have become a critical commonplace in analyses of the poem. She thus makes clear that she has praised God rather than the people or country of America for her good fortune. She was about twenty years old, black, and a woman. The darker races are looked down upon. On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley is a simple poem about the power of Christianity to bring people to salvation. To instruct her readers to remember indicates that the poet is at this point (apparently) only deferring to a prior authority available to her outside her own poem, an authority in fact licensing her poem. 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). She notes that the poem is "split between Africa and America, embodying the poet's own split consciousness as African American." Even Washington was reluctant to use black soldiers, as William H. Robinson points out in Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings. Line 5 boldly brings out the fact of racial prejudice in America. The final word train not only refers to the retinue of the divinely chosen but also to how these chosen are trained, "Taught to understand." She ends the poem by saying that all people, regardless of race, are able to be saved and make it to Heaven. The result is that those who would cast black Christians as other have now been placed in a like position. She took the surname of this man, as was the tradition, but her first name came from the slave ship The Phillis, which brought her to America. In context, it seems she felt that slavery was immoral and that God would deliver her race in time. She traveled to London in 1773 (with the Wheatley's son) in order to publish her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Line 6, in quotations, gives a typical jeer of a white person about black people. She did not mingle with the other servants but with Boston society, and the Wheatley daughter tutored her in English, Latin, and the Bible. From this perspective, Africans were living in darkness. The reception became such because the poem does not explicitly challenge slavery and almost seems to subtly approve of it, in that it brought about the poet's Christianity. Common Core State Standards Text Exemplars, A Change of World, Episode 1: The Wilderness, To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name, To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth, To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works. February 2023, Oakland Curator: Jan Watten Diaspora is a vivid word. 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. This simple and consistent pattern makes sense for Wheatleys straightforward message. Gates documents the history of the critique of her poetry, noting that African Americans in the nineteenth century, following the trends of Frederick Douglass and the numerous slave narratives, created a different trajectory for black literature, separate from the white tradition that Wheatley emulated; even before the twentieth century, then, she was being scorned by other black writers for not mirroring black experience in her poems. Phillis was known as a prodigy, devouring the literary classics and the poetry of the day. Mistakes do not get in the way of understanding. 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). Taught my benighted soul to understand Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. In addition, their color is consider evil. Could the United States be a land of freedom and condone slavery? As Christian people, they are supposed to be "refin'd," or to behave in a blessed and educated manner. For additional information on Clif, Harlem In these ways, then, the biblical and aesthetic subtleties of Wheatley's poem make her case about refinement. 120 seconds. 135-40. On the page this poem appears as a simple eight-line poem, but when taking a closer look, it is seen that Wheatley has been very deliberate and careful. In just eight lines, Wheatley describes her attitude toward her condition of enslavementboth coming from Africa to America, and the culture that considers the fact that she is a Black woman so negatively. Wheatley continued to write throughout her life and there was some effort to publish a second book, which ultimately failed. She did not know that she was in a sinful state. 36, No. Now the speaker states that some people treat Black people badly and look upon them scornfully. Trauma dumping, digital nomad, nearlywed, petfluencer and antifragile. This is an eight-line poem written in iambic pentameter. The reversal of inside and outside, black and white has further significance because the unredeemed have also become the enslaved, although they are slaves to sin rather than to an earthly master. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), p.98. As her poem indicates, with the help of God, she has overcome, and she exhorts others that they may do the same. Additional information about Wheatley's life, upbringing, and education, including resources for further research. 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. 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. 372-73. What type of figurative language does Wheatley use in most of her poems . It is also pointed out that Wheatley perhaps did not complain of slavery because she was a pampered house servant. Throughout the poem, the speaker talks about God's mercy and the indifferent attitude of the people toward the African-American community. "On Being Brought from Africa to America Though a slave when the book was published in England, she was set free based on its success. 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. We sense it in two ways. 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. They signed their names to a document, and on that basis Wheatley was able to publish in London, though not in Boston. 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. Although she was an enslaved person, Phillis Wheatley Peters was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. This same spirit in literature and philosophy gave rise to the revolutionary ideas of government through human reason, as popularized in the Declaration of Independence. Additional information about Wheatley's life, upbringing, and education, including resources for further research. The poet quickly and ably turns into a moral teacher, explaining as to her backward American friends the meaning of their own religion. They can join th angelic train. Boston, Massachusetts In regards to the meter, Wheatley makes use of the most popular pattern, iambic pentameter. While it suggests the darkness of her African skin, it also resonates with the state of all those living in sin, including her audience. She was born in West Africa circa 1753, and thus she was only a few years younger than James Madison. 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. Wheatley makes use of several literary devices in On Being Brought from Africa to America. Walker, Alice, "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Honoring the Creativity of the Black Woman," in Jackson State Review, Vol. In fact, the Wheatleys introduced Phillis to their circle of Evangelical antislavery friends. "Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Starting deliberately from the position of the "other," Wheatley manages to alter the very terms of otherness, creating a new space for herself as both poet and African American Christian. The first of these is unstressed and the second is stressed. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Cain is a biblical character that kills his brother, an example of the evil of humanity. She notes that the black skin color is thought to represent a connection to the devil. Accessed 4 March 2023. 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,Taught my benighted soul to understandThat there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.Some view our sable race with scornful eye,"Their colour is a diabolic die. In fact, the whole thrust of the poem is to prove the paradox that in being enslaved, she was set free in a spiritual sense. 27, No. Here are 10 common figures of speech and some examples of the same figurative language in use: Simile. Robinson, William H., Phillis Wheatley and Her Writings, Garland, 1984, pp. 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. 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). In this regard, one might pertinently note that Wheatley's voice in this poem anticipates the ministerial role unwittingly assumed by an African-American woman in the twenty-third chapter of Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Minister's Wooing (1859), in which Candace's hortatory words intrinsically reveal what male ministers have failed to teach about life and love. In the case of her readers, such failure is more likely the result of the erroneous belief that they have been saved already. By rhyming this word with "angelic train," the author is connecting the ideas of pure evil and the goodness of Heaven, suggesting that what appears evil may, in fact, be worthy of Heaven. The poem is known as a superb literary piece written about a ship or a frigate. The early reviews, often written by people who had met her, refer to her as a genius. Her choice of pronoun might be a subtle allusion to ownership of black slaves by whites, but it also implies "ownership" in a more communal and spiritual sense. Endnotes. While it is a short poem a lot of information can be taken away from it. Baker, Houston A., Jr., Workings of the Spirit: The Poetics of Afro-American Women's Writing, University of Chicago Press, 1991. 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. themes in this piece are religion, freedom, and equality, https://poemanalysis.com/phillis-wheatley/on-being-brought-from-africa-to-america/, Poems covered in the Educational Syllabus. The last four lines take a surprising turn; suddenly, the reader is made to think. She did light housework because of her frailty and often visited and conversed in the social circles of Boston, the pride of her masters. The poet glorifies the warship in this poem that battled the war of 1812. //]]>. By Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley may also be using the rhetorical device of bringing up the opponent's worst criticism in order to defuse it.