On Being Brought From Africa To America By Phillis Wheatley

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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” is a short, lyric poem by African-American poet Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) that aided her in gaining literary success. Written as an eight line stanza with 10 syllables per line. The poem utilizes rhyme in the joining of the four couplets in the text. The end rhymes are strong, and the italization in the text emphasizes the diction of the poem. The punctuation, specifically the periods, are used to demonstrate the end of a thought or idea in the poem, as well as aid in identifying the shift. The strength of the rhymes suggests that the Wheatley used her choice in language for the end rhymes to fortify the connection between each pair of lines, and to express a specific significance behind the words.

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