Question #1: What does the journey North signify in the poem titled, “To a Lady on Her Coming to North America with Her Son, for the Recovery of Her Health,” by Phillis Wheatley and how did the author portray the journey? In the poem titled “To a Lady on Her Coming to North America with Her Son, for the Recovery of Her Health,” by Phillis Wheatley, the journey north signifies hope. Hope is defined as being a feeling of desire for a certain thing to happen. Having an optimistic attitude based on an expectation relating to an event or circumstance in a person’s life. A sign of hope signifies the feeling of wanting something and the result of that turning out for the best. The lady in the poem hopes to travel to America to gain recovery. She …show more content…
currently is in Jamaica and is experiencing a severe health issue and must seek help elsewhere. The poem states: Arise, ye winds, America explore, Waft me, ye gales, from this malignant shore; The Northern milder climes I long to greet, There, hope that health will my arrival meet” (Wheatley 36). This statement signifies the hope to reach America and become healed. She plans to travel to America for the recovery of her health with her son by her side. Wheatley uses certain words to signify the hope in which the lady is experiencing. The arrival of the ship brings joy and excitement to the lady as she realizes her journey to recovery will soon begin. The ship can possibly signify and represent hope and allow the lady to become confident that her health will become revived and she will have a speedy and successful recovery. The poem states: The ship arrives before the fav’ring wind, And makes the Philadelphian port assign’d, Thence I attend you to Bostonia’s arms, Where gen’rous friendship ev’ry bosom warms: Thrice welcome here! may health revive again, Bloom on they check, and bound in ev’ry vein (Wheatley 36) This statement shows how the ship signifies anticipation and excitement for recovery in America. The lady’s hope and desire to find recovery in North America is seen when Jamaica is negatively referred to in the work of literature. The audience may be able to conclude that the woman had gone to Jamaica and got sick. As a result she could not wait to get back to her native land to hopefully recover. Jamaica is described negatively in the poem as the, “fervid shores,” which is ironic because Jamaica is known for having a very warm climate. However, this is Wheatley’s way of describing the negative aspects of the country and what the unfavorable issues are that relate to the country’s controversial problems. These shores are described as being intense and dominant, “fervid,” which can relate to the idea that the diseases, illnesses and even slavery in the country can be very controlling and powerful towards a person. The poem focuses on the recovery of the woman’s physical well-being but also focuses on the ability to return. The poem describes the idea of finding a sense of belonging and a place where a person can call home. Wheatley experienced very harsh conditions when dealing with slavery and being a servant throughout her entire life. She never really experienced what it was like to feel loved and comforted by family and friends. She also never really had a set place where she could call home due to the fact that she was a slave working for others. The journey north signifies many different meanings of hope in the white lady’s life. Wheatley writes about this white woman seeking a sense of belonging and finding her true home and place where she can call her own. A place where she can feel completely healed and wanted. A place where she can essentially feel comfortable, safe, and healthy. The ending of the poem states: “he tear in transport starting from his eyes! While his attendant son, with blooming grace, Springs to his father’s ever dear embrace, With shouts of joy Jamaica’s rock resound, With shouts of joy the country rings around (Wheatley 36). This statement signifies excitement for the arrival to North America and the joy the place will soon bring to the woman. Wheatley uses personification here to describe the excitement and joy the recovery will provide to her. Question #2: In what ways does Phillis Wheatley touch upon the idea of the afterlife and what is the significance of Wheatley bringing awareness to the potential of an after-life in the poem titled, “On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall, 1771?” How does Wheatley use personification to further explain her points? Phillis Wheatley developed this work of literature titled, “On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshal, 1771,” using aspects of Christianity and bringing awareness to the importance of the religion. In the poem titled, “On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall, 1771,” by Phillis Wheatley, she refers to the afterlife in a few lines of the work. In this 1771 poem, there exists an interest in the underworld referring to many gods and goddesses and other figures within the literature. She includes many figures of the underworld to bring some more ideas about the afterlife into the work. Wheatley focuses on realistic fantasy when she touches upon the appearance of ghosts. She tends to use fantasy and light tone to portray a less threatening work of literature. She uses these tools to include aspects of real-life problems and the heartache for the people who were affected by the doctor’s death. Wheatley tends to place the reader in a dialogue with the afterlife. This is seen in the lines that state: Through thickest glooms look back, immortal shade On that confusion which thy death has made (Wheatley 40). Wheatley focuses on the potential of an after-life and the thought and hope for life after death. The audience is able to see ways in which she touches upon these aspects however, the real question is, why is it so significant that an African-American slave focuses so much on life after death? In the poem titled, “On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall, 1771,” the audience sees an important figure pass away. This important person was a doctor, a figure that signifies hope, love, and power. His passing hit home for most and affected many people who he was so close to. The concern for him to live a life after his passing was portrayed clearly in Wheatley’s poem. Wheatley states at the end of the poem: Yet midst our woes immortal hopes attend The spouse, the sire, the universal friend (Wheatley 41). It is very ironic that an African-American woman would focus so much on the underworld and the afterlife.
It seems to be that the African-American woman who had experienced slavery longed to attain a new life after she passes. The audience may be able to conclude that Wheatley wrote about this topic because she hoped everyone could live on and experience a better life after death. The audience may also be able to conclude that Wheatley did not live the life she would have chosen to leave. She experienced extreme and harsh conditions under rule of higher figures. She lived as a servant all her life and worked every single day under cruel circumstances. The after-life was a sign of hope for Wheatley which seems to be a reoccurring theme within each poem she had written. This poem also touches upon the idea that African-American slaves were known to not have been well-educated. They did not receive the same treatment as others and were not exposed to the luxuries, life had to offer. As a poet, Wheatley used a lot of personification in her writing to help the readers better understand the points she was trying to make. This showed how skilled the African-American woman truly was. This technique ultimately showed the level of intelligence African-Americans had, where being able to form and grasp abstract thoughts was known to be almost impossible for slaves. In the poem, “On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall, 1771,” Wheatley personifies Boston in the second stanza and also personifies sickness in the third stanza. These lines
state: The loss of thee on Tyler’s soul returns, And Boston for her dear physician mourns. When sickness called for Marshall’s healing hand, With what compassion did his soul expand (Wheatley 40) The statement brings awareness to how devastated people were over the death of Dr. Marshall and also the brutality of the illness Marshall was experiencing. Personifying sickness showed how strong and deadly certain diseases and illnesses were at the time and how they can unexpectedly come up and completely destroy an individual. The statement explains how Dr. Marshall tried his best to hold on and how desperate his soul was to living. Wheatley uses this personification to clearly make her points about the situations people faced during those times. She used personification as a technique for her to really get her points across. Wheatley aimed to sound intelligent and hoped for new beginnings for all who had experienced the harsh and brutal conditions she had also experienced.
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
When picking an author that is the “epitome of what it means to be an American,” one author in particular stands out to me every time, and it is an author who is probably not considered by many to be an “American” author. Her name is Phillis Wheatley. Through her writings, Wheatley expresses her patriotism and overall respect for life in America, gaining her recognition by critics and fans alike, and a major spot in the topic of American Literature. Within my essay, I aim to prove how Wheatley deserves the title of being labeled an American, and how she embodies the topic of what it means to be an American.
As a final point, Phillis Wheatley may have been bought a slave but she never lost faith and ended up being one of the best known poets in the early nineteenth century. This poem illustrates how she was living in darkness in Senegal, West Africa and because of slavery she was bought and brought to America. In this poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley uses poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles to illustrate color and darkness, multiple meanings of words, and the relationship between skin tone and salvation. This poem seems to be a narrative of her life and how slavery might have been the best thing that happened to her.
Throughout the poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, Phyllis Wheatley suggest that she accepted the colonial idea of slavery, by first describing her captivity, even though this poem has a subversive double meaning that has sent an anti-slavery message. Wheatley’s choice of words indicates that her directed audience was educated at a sophisticated level because of the language chosen. Her audience was assumingly also familiar with the bible because of the religious references used. The bible was used as a reference because of its accessibility. Wheatley uses religious references to subversively warn her readers about slavery and its repercussions and to challenge her reader’s morals.
“Hope is defined as the action of wishing or desiring that something will occur.” Hope helps people move forward in life to see what’s coming next for them. For example, “I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support” (Wiesel, “Night”.) This quote explains the effects of hope in a pitiful situation. Eliezer Wiesel and his father were torn apart, mentally and physically from everything they
While Wheatley was literate, her upbringing comfortable, her connections advantageous, the reason of her sole joy in being brought to America because of finding Christ, her “good nigger” persona, her freedom simply given to her, and her masters encouragement of her learning, Sojourner Truth’s life was the opposite. Truth was brave, strong, outspoken and, all in all, had to work much harder to become a memorable figure and a true influencer for her race. She dedicated a large portion of her life to the fulfillment and equality of women and African Americans, while Phillis Wheatley spent her life being a pleasant acquaintance who loved her faith and emphasized it. Although there is nothing wrong in this, Phillis Wheatley could have made herself more familiar with the problems of her own race and helped them, but she did not, and this lack of improvement for her people at the time is shown through the evidence of the absence of her name in the African American equality
On Being Brought from Africa to America, Wheatley’s short poem reads powerfully. How could one possibly breeze past such a sharply positioned argument which directly places her race front and center?
Mason, Jr., Julian D. The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
She makes you think about the wrong doings that were going on in this time period. It was very brave of her to talk about the things that she talked about especially while being a slave. During this time period she probably faced a lot of criticism of her works and many believed that someone was writing her poems for her because they were so good and it was uncommon for a black lady to write a poem as well as she did. As a young black lady who has to go through slavery and other adversities this was a very hard time period for them but Wheatley stood strong and followed in what she believed in. She fought for equality and freedom for African American men and women. I think the part that sets her as a hero is the fact that she was able to try and make a change in history as a black woman. Her literary works helped change the way we look at society today. Phillis had a strong opinion about just because you are a certain race or gender does not mean that you are less of a person that anyone else. And I think that this is one of the points that Phillis tried to prove in her poems. She wanted to push for equality and to make the world a better place. In the poem “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principle Secretary of State for North America, &c.” Wheatley brings out her true emotions and suffuses to the readers how she really feels. This poem praises the freedom that America has gained from
O?Neale, Sondra A. "Phillis Wheatley." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 31: American Colonial Writers, 1735-1781. Ed. Emory Elliot. Princeton: Gale, 1984. 260-267.
Wheatley explains in her works that there is a God that believes in you, no matter what race or religion. The idea of hope is so strongly engraved into Wheatley’s stories because hope is all she had to cling to while in Africa and then while being separated from her husband after arriving in America. A man named John Wheatley purchased Wheatley and gave her a much better life than she ever imagined. From her journey across the ocean upon her arrival to the United States of America, she expressed her love for writing as an illustration of God’s unfailing love to share with people. She became familiar with the true meaning of the bible and God’s providence. God’s providence is how he cares and watches over her during the life’s passage. In “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, she is able to write to the college students about the main goals. Wheatley heavily emphasizes to them that they should not get so wrapped up in their schoolwork and studies that it hinders their personal relationship with God. By having a balance in schooling and daily walk with God, it will help the student’s life more efficiently than just doing one action. The author’s main point in her poetry
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is crafted in such a manner that she is able to create a specific aim for each poem, and achieve that aim by manipulating her position as the speaker. As a slave, she was cautious to cross any lines with her proclamations, but was able to get her point across by humbling her own position. In religious or elegiac matters, however, she seemed to consider herself to be an authority. Two of her poems, the panegyric “To MAECENAS” and the elegy “On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age,” display Wheatley’s general consistency in form, but also her intelligence, versatility, and ability to adapt her position in order to achieve her goals.
The clash between racial reality and idea is what is artistically shown in “on being brought from Africa to America”. Wheatley is a subtle rebel. At the beginning of her poem she shows thanks for being enslaved because it brought happiness to her life in finding Christianity, but as time goes by we start to see the true tone of Wheatley, which clearly show in the last two lines of the poem, now Wheatley begins to take a big position of power as if she already has the attention of the reader. Wheatley continues by saying that Africans may not be perfect but the Christians who enslave human beings aren’t
Phillis Wheatley's religious perspectives were extremely evident all through the content. Wheatley communicated her perspective all through different poems that she has composed, for example, in “To the University of Cambridge in New England”, lines 12-20 truly demonstrate her commitment to God and where she remains as a Christian. Lines that truly emerged among the poems were “How Jesus’ blood for your redemption flows”, and “See him with hands outstretched upon the cross; Immense compassion in His bosom glows”. Wheatley also has another poem that sheds light on her pious religious views in “On Being Brought from Africa to America” Wheatley talks about her Pagan land, in doing so she expresses the fact that she knows there is a God, and
No matter how bad things may seem, there is always hope for things to ameliorate. When people believe that the future will be promising, they can have something to look forward to as opposed to dwelling on the past or the problems of the present. This hope can give a person a positive outlook on life and motivate him or her to look past what is happening in the present. In the poems “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson and “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy, they both convey similar messages about hope. Both works display the theme of hope being present at all times no matter how bad things may seem and is a consistent option for anyone in need of help.