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Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the Frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects.

Phillis Wheatley (1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first published African American poet whose writings helped create the genre of African American literature.1 She was born in Gambia, Africa, and became a slave at age seven. She was purchased by the Boston Wheatley family, who taught her to read and write, and helped encourage her poetry.

The 1773 publication of Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame, with dignitaries such as George Washington praising her work. Wheatley also toured England and was praised in a poem by fellow African American poet Jupiter Hammon. Wheatley was emancipated by her owners after her poetic success, but stayed with the Wheatley family until the death of her former master and the breakup of his family. She then married a free black man, who soon left her. She died in poverty in 1784 while working on a second book of poetry, which has now been lost.2

Contents

Early years

Phyllis Wheatley's church, Old South Meeting House

Born around 1753 in an area of present-day Senegal, Wheatley was kidnapped and carried to America in 1761 aboard a slave ship called "Phyllis" (from which she received her name). She was purchased in Boston by a wealthy merchant named John Wheatley. John and his wife Susanna instructed her and encouraged her education,3 including study of foreign languages such as Latin, and history. Phyllis was tutored by the Wheatleys’ son, Nathaniel, in English, Latin, history, geography, religion, and the Bible. Wheatley was baptized into the Christian religion at Old South Meeting House.4

Later years

Phillis’ popularity as a poet both in the United States and England ultimately brought her freedom from slavery on October 18, 1773. She appeared before General Washington in March, 1776 at a poetry reading. She was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War. She married a free black grocer named John Peters. This marriage produced three children, two of whom soon died. Her husband left her and Wheatley earned a living as a servant. By 1784 she was living in a boarding house and, in December of that year, she and her remaining child died and were buried in an unmarked grave. She died in poverty at the age of 31. Wheatley's third child died only a few hours after her death. At the time of her death, there was a second volume of poetry but no publishers were willing to publish it.

Poetry

In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in which she praised George III for repealing the Stamp Act.5 However, as the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes from the point of view of the colonists.

John Wheatley's grave in Granary Burying Ground. Phyllis Wheatley's grave is unmarked

In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to George Whitefield that received widespread acclaim. Wheatley's poetry overwhelmingly revolves around Christian themes, with many poems dedicated to famous personalities. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical and abstract themes.6 She rarely mentions her own situation in her poems. One of the few which refers to slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":

Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That 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 dye."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.´

Because many white people of the time found it hard to believe that a black woman could be so intelligent as to write poetry, in 1772 Wheatley had to defend her literary ability in court.78 She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded that she had in fact written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation which was published in the preface to her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral published in Aldgate, London in 1773. The book was published in London because publishers in Boston had refused to publish the text. Wheatley and her master's son, Nathanial Wheatley, went to London, where Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the Earl of Dartmouth helped with the publication.

Through her poetry, Wheatley is credited with helping found African American literature.9

In 1778, African American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley. Hammon never mentions himself in the poem, but it appears that in choosing Wheatley as a subject, he was acknowledging their common bond.

Style

Wheatley wrote in the formal poetic style that was popular in her time,1011 often focusing on moral and religious subjects.

Recognition and legacy

Phillis Wheatley statue on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston as part of the Boston Women's Memorial

With the 1774 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth."12 Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo."13 She was also honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington.

Wheatley's book is today seen as helping create the genre of African American literature. 14

There is a building named in her honor at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Poems by Phillis Wheatley

  • Poems by Phillis Wheatley, "An Address to the Atheist" and "An Address to the Deist," 1767
  • "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty" 1768
  • Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "Atheism," July 1769
  • "An Elegaic Poem On the Death of that celebrated Divine, and eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Reverend and Learned Mr. George Whitefield," 1771
  • Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "A Poem of the Death of Charles Eliot ...," 1 September 1772
  • Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (title page and frontispiece of 1773 edition)
  • Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "To His Honor the Lieutenant Governor on the death of his Lady," 24 March 1773
  • "An Elegy, To Miss Mary Moorhead, On the Death of her Father, The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead," 1773
  • "An Elegy, Sacred to the Memory of the Great Divine, the Reverend and the Learned Dr. Samuel Cooper," 1784
  • "Liberty and Peace, A Poem" 1784
  • Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (title page and front matter of 1802 edition)
  • "To the Right and Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth ..." from Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1802 edition)

Books

  • Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral Published in 1773
  • To His Excellency George Washington written for Washington in 1776
  • Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and Slave (Boston: Published by Geo. W. Light, 1834), also by Margaretta Matilda Odell

See also

References

  1. ^ The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Basic Civitas Books, 2003, page 5.
  2. ^ Women's Political and Social Thought: An Anthology by Hilda L. Smith, Indiana University Press, 2000, page 123.
  3. ^ Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience by Henry Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah, Basic Civitas Books, 1999, page 1171.
  4. ^ PAL: Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
  5. ^ Women's Political and Social Thought: An Anthology by Hilda L. Smith, Indiana University Press, 2000, page 123.
  6. ^ Phillis Wheatley page, comments on Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, accessed Oct. 5, 2007
  7. ^ Ellis Cashmore, review of The Norton Anthology of African-American Literature, Nellie Y. McKay and Henry Louis Gates, eds., New Statesman, April 25, 1997.
  8. ^ Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience by Henry Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah, Basic Civitas Books, 1999, page 1171.
  9. ^ Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience by Henry Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah, Basic Civitas Books, 1999, page 1171.
  10. ^ Women's Political and Social Thought: An Anthology by Hilda L. Smith, Indiana University Press, 2000, page 123.
  11. ^ Kathleen De Grave, Pittsburgh State University . "Phillis Wheatley." The Literary Encyclopedia. 26 Sep. 2006. The Literary Dictionary Company. 21 October 2007.
  12. ^ The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Basic Civitas Books, page 33.
  13. ^ The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Basic Civitas Books, page 33.
  14. ^ The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Basic Civitas Books, 2003, page 5.

Further reading

  • Gates, H. The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers Basic Civitas Books, 2003
  • Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phyllis Wheatley." In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: 1606.
  • Shockley, Ann Allen, Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide, New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books, 1989. ISBN 0-452-00981-2

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