Analysis Of Something Like A Sonnet For Phillis Wheatley By June Jordan

Stolen from their own homeland and thrown into a sailing ship towards a country of awaiting white masters, hundreds of black folks were to expect cruel hardships and withstand torturous situations, such as rape, starvation, and working without rest or pay. Being treated as something less than a human, instead, more as a tool, was considered normal far back in the year of 1761, when the revolution for freedom had not yet taken place. Considering this, June Jordan tells the tale of the first female black poet in her article, “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America or Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Wheatley.” After describing the life of a slave, Jordan explains how Phillis came to be a Wheatley. Taken in by a white ‘nice’ couple, Suzannah and John Wheatley, decided to bid for a challenge in Phillis, a young seven year old girl. Then, Jordan

emphasizes that young Phillis grew into the hearts and minds of the Wheatley’s, as well as, fluently learning their language through the teachings of Suzannah Wheatley, who called Phillis a “Black darling of God,” (163).
Referring to Phillis’ fluency in language, Jordan highlights the fact that Phillis, an African child, was only given the white man’s literature of England.

Jordan writes approvingly about Phillis Wheatley publishing her first poem, “To the University of Cambridge” (164), where she utilizes certain terms that accept the kindness of the Wheatley’s and the wealth of white men’s literature, yet she puts herself forward as the one who made her the poet she became. Immediately after, Jordan writes with disdain as Phillis writes a poem that indicates that prior to being taken from Africa, she had been oppressed by the darkness surrounding her, as well as, daring to redefine herself as an angel of the Lord. Making a strong point, Jordan states that if Phillis were to write about the true pain and grief she had suffered as an taken African child, then there may have been more to know about who Phillis was. However, Jordan follows through to say that there wouldn’t have been anyone to publish a work of poetry such as that. Yet “Phillis Miracle” managed to incorporate personal truths about her experience in some of her

poems.
Jordan expresses Phillis Wheatley as the “first decidedly American poet on this continent, Black or white, male or female,” as Phillis extended her love to both the slave owners that purchased her and to her fellow black folks. Jumping ahead, Jordan quickly runs through the last decades of Phillis’ life, from the death of her female slaveholder, Suzannah Wheatley, to Phillis’ own death. Jordan brings into light that Phillis married a black man, John Peters, who actively argued for the liberation of blacks. After the death of Phillis, at the age of thirty-one years old, the manuscript of her poems were never to be found again.
Throughout the entire article, Jordan repeatedly questions, “Was it a nice day?,” bringing a tone of sarcasm to counteract the moments that Jordan found ironic. Jordan ends her article with words that reveal the harsh reality of the world. She states that as black poets continue to remain the “children of slavery” and hide the truths about the occurrences forced upon them as blacks, then they will be loved, sheltered, and published. Finishing off, Jordan reiterates that Phillis Wheatley was not natural, and yet she was the very first difficult miracle of black poetry in America.