UNIT 6: PHILLIS WHEATLEY’S ON

BEING BROUGHT FROM

AFRICA TO AMERICA
Structure
6.0 Objective
6.1 Introduction (Biography)
6.2 Poetic Carrier
6.3 Poem
6.4 Theme Structure and Interpretation
6.5 Sum up
6.6 Check Your Progress
6.7 Further Reading

6.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit PhillisWheatley is introduced as the first African-American
woman slave poet brought to America. She is one of the most controversial
and enigmatic personalities in the history of African-American literature.
In her poetry she not only seeks her identity but also grows up a fixed and
prejudiced position in the white society. Her social identity as the Negro,
the woman and the slave adds a new name to the list of American poets in a
collection of poetry that evaluates Wheatley, the poet in lights of her status
as a black female slave in the 18th century New England for the students and
readers. Her poetic expression, creative writing and enslavement are the
best evidence of her talent and genius are considered the highest thought
and critical crux to the whites of Europe and America. Critics claim that
black writers lack vision, imagination and originality but in Wheatley’s case
she is no less powerful than a white writer, inevitably a point of contention
and attraction for others.

6.1 INTRODUCTION (BIOGRAPHY)

Phillis Wheatley (1753 – December 5, 1784) is the first published African-
American woman poet born in West Africa. She is sold into slavery at the
age of seven to the Wheatley family of Boston and transported to North
America. The Wheatley family teaches her to read and write, and encourages
her poetry when they find talent and efficiency in her. The publication of her
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) earns fame both
in England and the American colonies. She is such a figure whose work is
admired by George Washington. During Wheatley’s visit to England with
her master’s son, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon also praised
her work in his own poem. Wheatley is emancipated after the death of her
master John Wheatley. She gets married soon after and loses two of her
children in their infancy. Acutely suffering from poverty Wheatley dies of
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illness after her husband is imprisoned for debt in 1784, quickly followed Phillis Wheatley’s On Being
by the death of her surviving infant son. Brought from Africa
to America
The date and place of her birth are not yet recorded, scholars believe that
Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-
day Gambia or Senegal. Wheatley is brought to British-ruled Boston,
Massachusetts on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. It was
owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by peter Gwinn. She is sold at the
age of eight to the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley, who
adopts the young girl as a servant for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna
Wheatley give her name Phillis after the ship that has brought her to
America. Wheatley title is also appended to Phillis as it is a common custom
used for slaves.
The Wheatley’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Mary, first starts tutoring
Phillis in reading and writing and later their son Nathaniel also helps her.
John Wheatley was so generous that he allows his family to give Phillis
education who is an enslaved person, and a female of the black race. Phillis
is able to read Greek and Latin classics and even the difficult passages from
the Bible. As she has literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis’
education and left the household labor to their other domestic slaves. The
Wheatley often showed off Phillis’ abilities to friends and family. The works
of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer and Virgil strongly influence Phillis
Wheatley and she begins to write poetry.

6.2 POETIC CAREER

Accompanied by Nathaniel Wheatley, Phillis journeys to London as Susanna
believes she will have a better chance of publishing her poetry at the age of
twenty in 1773. She gathers an audience with the Lord Mayor of London as
well as with other significant members of British society, including Selina
Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, who lends her support to Wheatley’s
work and allows a volume of Wheatley’s poems to publish in London in
1773, which is dedicated to her. In 1774, Phillis Wheatley writes a letter to
Reverend Samson Occom, acclaiming him on his ideas and beliefs of how
the slaves should be given their natural born rights in America. Wheatley
also exchanges letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who
in turn discusses with Wheatley and her poetry in his correspondence with
John Newton. Along with her poetry, she has a commanding voice to express
her thoughts, comments and concerns to others. In 1775, Phillis Wheatley
sends a copy of a poem entitled, “To His Excellency, George Wassachusetts.
Thomas Paine republishes the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April of
1776.
Wheatley is legally freed from slavery by her master’s will in 1778. His
daughter Mary Wheatley dies soon afterward. Three months later, Phillis
Wheatley marries John Peters, a free black grocer. They struggle with poor
living conditions and the deaths of two babies. Wheatley writes another
volume of poetry but is unable to publish it because of her financial
conditions, the loss of patrons after her, and the competition from the
Revolutionary War. However, some of her poems that are to be published
in that volume are later published in pamphlets and newspapers. When
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Eighteen and the Nineteenth her husband John Peters was imprisoned for debt in 1784, leaving a sickly
Century-I infant son with her, she has no other way to work as a scullery maid at a
boarding house to support. The racism and sexism that marked the highest
peak in the era, she has never been refused to enjoy her freedom. Wheatley
dies on December 5, 1784, at a tender age of 31 and her infant son also dies
three and a half hours after her death.
Wheatley’s “To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty,” in 1768, not only
praises King George III for repealing the Stamp Act but also gains strength
for the American Revolution because Wheatley’s writing expresses themes
and ideas for the rebellious colonists. Similarly, Wheatley’s poetic tribute to
the evangelist, George Whitefield in 1770 receives widespread acclaim. Her
poetry is obsessed with Christian themes, elegies, religious, classical, and
abstract themes. Most poems are dedicated to famous figures. She seldom
documents her own life in her poems. The very theme of slavery is reflected
in “On being brought from Africa to America”. However, there seems a
conflict between her mind and conscience whether to write against slavery
or not because she has never experienced the feelings and pangs of slavery
in her life. She admires slavery because it brought her to Christianity. But,
in another poem, she wrote that slavery was a cruel fate.

6.3 POEM
‘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.

6.4 THEME, STRUCTURE AND

INTERPRETATION
“On Being Brought from Africa to America” is a very small poem, which
consists of only eight lines documenting more on religious themes than
slavery. As the poem opens with: ’Twas mercy brought me from my pagan
land,” the poet strongly believes in Christianity and God’s mercy that has
brought her from Africa to America. The poet being very much reminiscing to
her childhood not only keeps faith on God but also understands Christianity
well. In her little knowledge and understanding what the poet perceives in
her mind is that God is the Saviors of both body and soul who liberates all
from sin, guilt and slavery. The omni-potency and omni-presence of God
are highly solicited in this poem. The last four lines of this poem orchestrate
the theme of race- black and white. The poet uses the phrase ‘sable race’
for black people and her line “Some view our sable race with scornful eye,”
sanctions a clear meaning that the black people were treated as animals
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in America during her time. Furthermore, the poet speaks about the color Phillis Wheatley’s On Being
of the black people in the next line: “Their color is a diabolic dye.” Three Brought from Africa
to America
major aspects we can easily inherit from the poetry of Phillis Wheatley-
Christianity, racism and classicism. Despite ‘scornful eye’ of the white race
Wheatley tries to console the black negroes as ‘black as Cain’ that the poet
has much patience and expectation with her time, which will solve the race
and color distinction and the blacks will be refined and joining the ‘angelic
train’. Black female writers are double-toned, double-voiced and double-
effaced. As the first black female poet, Phillis Wheatley is more positive in
her tone and poetic attitude. A strong hope and consolation are clearly visible
in the last sentence. Wheatley’s poetic interest and expertism with rhyming
heroic couplets, rhymed decasyllables nearly iambic pentameters rhymed in
pairs-aabbccdd, decasyllabic couplets, which are developed with Chaucer
and later in the 15th, 16th, 17th century in English poetry. One often sees its
use and mastery with poetic success in the poetry of Phillis Wheatley.
As a whole, Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
(1773) is an incredible and excellent volume with 38 poems that white
colonists are not ready to believe by that time that an African slave has
written such a collection of poetry. Wikipedia details about her authenticity:
Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. 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 she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an
attestation, which included in the preface of her book of collected works:
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in
1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of
great interest in London. There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the
Earl of Dartmouth acted as help Wheatley gain publication.
In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode Wheatley.
He does not refer to himself in the poem, but by choosing Wheatley as a
subject, he may have been acknowledging their common ethnicity.
Wikipedia furthers about the style, structure, and influences on the poetry of
Phillis Wheatley for which she has been appreciated and honored:
Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable. John C. Shields
notes that her poetry did not simply reflect novels which she read but was
based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields write, “Wheatley had more
in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later allusions to the sun
god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close
association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance
to her. “For example, her poem “Ode to Neptune” signifies her life in many
ways. The language of the poem starts out shaky and chaotic but the mood
is adventurous yet scary (reflecting much of her life experiences). By the
end of the poem the language and attitude seem to generate an emotion
of a calm peaceful journey that served of great importance. This poem is
arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by

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Eighteen and the Nineteenth a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc.”
Century-I Her structure or from of the poetry expressed the tone.
She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic
solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her
from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African
culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so
many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times,
“Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice.” Shields believes that the
word “light” is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past which
she has left physically behind.
He notes that sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a
double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to “heav’nly muse” in two
of her poems: “To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady” and “Isaiah
LXIII,” signifying her idea of the Christian deity.
Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of
her contemporaries. He writes, “Wheatley’s use of classicism distinguishes
her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment.” Shieldes
sums up Wheatley’s writing by characterizing it as “contemplative and
reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering.”
With the 1773 publication of Wheatley’s book Poems on Various Subjects,
she “became the most famous African on the face of the earth.” Voltaire
stated in a letter to friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could
write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow to deliver some of his personal
writings to “Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo.”
She was honored by many of America’s founding fathers, including George
Washington, who told her that “the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit
a striking proof of your great poetical Talents.”
Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African American
literature. She is honored as the first African American woman to publish a
book and the first to make a living from her writing.

6.5 SUM UP
To sum up Phillis Wheatley one can get easily assert that there is curiosity
and eagerness in her. The style, theme, idea and imagination could offer her
a better space in the host country and accumulate audience for her poetry,
which makes an ordinary woman an extraordinary personality. To the great
astonishment of all others, the English language she adopts as an utter stranger
is Wheatley’s encounter with new place, people and relationship. Seeking
for advantage under the disadvantaged circumstance not only provides a
slave a greater support but also gives her a literary support to sing the songs
of her experience and existence beyond her expectation. Critics appreciate
her most as she never expresses the self and political engagements. Friends
consider her attempt of poetry under the greatest obligations by excusing
worthless defects and trifling effusions. The question of how to evaluate and
interpret Wheatley in comparison to her status as a black female slave in 18th
century doubtlessly provides the noblest thought, the highest expression and
indisputable proof of genius to the educated white elites of New England
and Europe.
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 Phillis Wheatley’s On Being
6.6 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS Brought from Africa
to America
1. Discuss Phillis Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to
America” as a prayer.
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2. Justify the title of the poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to
America”.
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3. How does Phillis Wheatley raise her black woman’s voice in the
poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America”?
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4. Phillis Wheatley is the first black woman poet raising her voice in
“On Being Brought from Africa to America”, yet the poem sanctions
her biographical document. Discuss.
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6.7 FURTHER READING

Henry Louis Gates, Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America’s Second Black
Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers, Basic Civitas Books,
2010, p. 5.
Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C., where «Phyllis» is etched
into the name over its front door (as can be seen in photos and corresponding
text for that building›s National Register nomination).
Meehan, Adam; Bell, J. L. “Phillis Wheatley · George Washington’s Mount
Vernon”. George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
Hilda L. Smith, Women’s Political and Social Thought: An Anthology,
Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 123.
Adelaide M. Cromwell (1994), The Other Brahmins: Boston’s Black Upper
Class, 1750-1950, University of Arkansas Press, OL 1430545M
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Eighteen and the Nineteenth Carretta, Vincent. Complete Writings by Phillis Wheatley, New York:
Century-I Penguin Books, 2001.
Odell, Margaretta M. Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native
African and a Slave, Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834.
Doak, Robin S. Phillis Wheatley: Slave and Poet, Minneapolis: Compass
Point Books, 2007.
Brown, Sterling (1937). Negro Poetry and Drama. Washington, DC:
Westphalia Press. ISBN 1935907549.
Wheatley, Phillis (1887). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.
Denver, Colorado: W.H. Lawrence. p. 120.
White, Deborah (2015). Freedom on My Mind. Boston/New York: Bedford/
St. Martin’s. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-312-64883-1.
Charles Scruggs (1998). “Phillis Wheatley”. In G. J. Barker-Benfield.
Portraits of American Women: From Settlement to the Present. New York:
Oxford University Press. p. 106.
Catherine Adams; Elizabeth H. Pleck (2010). Love of Freedom: Black
Women in Colonial and Revolutionary New England. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Bilbro, Jeffrey (Fall 2012). “Who are lost and how they’re found:
redemption and theodicy in Wheatley, Newton, and Cowper”. Early
American Literature. 47 (3): 570–75. Archived from the original on April 2,
2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
Darlene Clark Hine; Kathleen Thompson (2009). A Shining Thread of Hope.
New York: Random House. p. 26.
Yolanda Williams Page, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of African American
Women Writers, Volume 1. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 610.
Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers, Volume 1. p. 611.
“Analysis of Poem “On Being Brought from Africa” to America by Phillis
Wheatley”. LetterPile. 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
Ellis Cashmore, review of The Norton Anthology of African-American
Literature, Nellie Y. McKay and Henry Louis Gates, eds, New Statesman,
April 25, 1997.

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