Wheatley’s Poem On Being Brought from Africa to America

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Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is part of a set of works that Henry Louis Gates Jr. recognized as a historically significant literary contribution for black Americans and black women (Baym et al. 752). Addressed to the Christians who participated in the slave trade, the poem is meant to reveal the inconsistencies between their actions and the Christian Ideal. Whether perceived as a work of sincerity or a work of irony, the poem conveys the message that an individual’s behaviors are influenced by the examples of others and that all people are equal. Understanding Phillis Wheatley’s intent in her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” is gained by considering all of the aspects of her existence when analyzing her work and even though perception is based on individual perspective, analysis and explication will reveal the contrariety Phillis Wheatley observed between society and the Christian Ideal and evidence her desire for the dissolution of every inequality. Phillis Wheatley was born in Gambia, West Africa around 1753 (Andrews et al. 770). She was forced into slavery when she was about seven or eight years old and purchased by John Wheatley in July of 1761 (770) for his wife Susanna Wheatley, who named her Phillis after the vessel that transported the young slave (Samuels et al. 543). The Wheatley’s, with their two children, Nathaniel and Mary (Brawley 12), taught Phillis to read and write in English and also tutored her in Latin (Samuels et al. 543). Wheatley studied the Bible, the Latin classical works of Virgil and Ovid, astronomy, geography, and history (Brawley 13). Much of her poetry consists of elegies (poetry written as a reflection on someone’s life) and many of her works are... ... middle of paper ... ...//www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/phillis-wheatley>. "Phillis Wheatley." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 1 May 2012. . Puckett, Caleb. "Phillis Wheatley." American Writers, Supplement XX: A Collection of Literary Biographies: Mary Antin to Phillis Wheatley. Ed. Jay Parini. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2010. 277-91. Print. Samuels, Wilfred D, Loretta G. Woodard, and Tracie C. Guzzio. "Wheatley, Phillis." Encyclopedia of African-American Literature. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 543-45. Print. Wheatley, Phillis. "On Being Brought From Africa to America.” Baym, The Norton Anthology of American Literature 751-53. Wheatley, Phillis, and Margaretta Odell. Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave. Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834. eBook.

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