This article seeks to analyze two works of black poetry, On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley and I, too, Sing . Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land. 61, 1974, pp. White people are given a lesson in basic Christian ethics. Just as she included a typical racial sneer, she includes the myth of blacks springing from Cain. The poem consists of: A single stanza of eight lines, with full rhyme and classic iambic pentameter beat, it basically says that black people can become Christian believers and in this respect are just the same as everyone else. In the lines of this piece, Wheatley addresses all those who see her and other enslaved people as less because of their skin tone. assessments in his edited volume Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. This is a metaphor. Such a person did not fit any known stereotype or category. On Being Brought from Africa to America The first episode in a special series on the womens movement. An online version of Wheatley's poetry collection, including "On Being Brought from Africa to America.". (read the full definition & explanation with examples). It is spoken by Queen Gertrude. It seems most likely that Wheatley refers to the sinful quality of any person who has not seen the light of God. Like many Christian poets before her, Wheatley's poem also conducts its religious argument through its aesthetic attainment. 15 chapters | But the women are on the march. it is to apply internationally. Accordingly, Wheatley's persona in "On Being Brought from Africa to America" qualifies the critical complaints that her poetry is imitative, inadequate, and unmilitant (e.g., Collins; Richmond 54-66); her persona resists the conclusion that her poetry shows a resort to scripture in lieu of imagination (Ogude); and her persona suggests that her religious poetry may be compatible with her political writings (e.g., Akers; Burroughs). To the extent that the audience responds affirmatively to the statements and situations Wheatley has set forth in the poem, that is the extent to which they are authorized to use the classification "Christian." The last two lines of the poem make use of imperative language, which is language that gives a command or tells the reader what to do. Wheatley makes use of several literary devices in On Being Brought from Africa to America. An allusion is an indirect reference to, including but not limited to, an idea, event, or person. Carretta, Vincent, and Philip Gould, Introduction, in Genius in Bondage: Literature of the Early Black Atlantic, edited by Vincent Carretta and Philip Gould, University Press of Kentucky, 2001, pp. The enslavement of Africans in the American colonies grew steadily from the early seventeenth century until by 1860 there were about four million slaves in the United States. Nevertheless, that an eighteenth-century woman (who was not a Quaker) should take on this traditionally male role is one surprise of Wheatley's poem. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). The eighteen judges signed a document, which Phillis took to London with her, accompanied by the Wheatley son, Nathaniel, as proof of who she was. As the final word of this very brief poem, train is situated to draw more than average attention to itself. Another instance of figurative language is in line 2, where the speaker talks about her soul being "benighted." "Mercy" is defined as "a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion" and indicates that it was ordained by God that she was taken from Africa. Read more of Wheatley's poems and write a paper comparing her work to some of the poems of her eighteenth-century model. In this instance, however, she uses the very argument that has been used to justify the existence of black slavery to argue against it: the connection between Africans and Cain, the murderer of Abel. She places everyone on the same footing, in spite of any polite protestations related to racial origins. In this poem, Wheatley posits that all people, from all races, can be saved by Christianity. 3, 1974, pp. Learning Objectives. A single stanza of eight lines, with full rhyme and classic iambic pentameter beat, it basically says that black people can become Christian believers and in this respect are just the same as everyone else. She wrote about her pride in her African heritage and religion. The poet quickly and ably turns into a moral teacher, explaining as to her backward American friends the meaning of their own religion. In regards to the meter, Wheatley makes use of the most popular pattern, iambic pentameter. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/being-brought-africa-america. Conditions on board some of the slave ships are known to have been horrendous; many died from illness; many were drowned. May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Wheatley's criticisms steam mostly form the figurative language in the poem. There were public debates on slavery, as well as on other liberal ideas, and Wheatley was no doubt present at many of these discussions, as references to them show up in her poems and letters, addressed to such notable revolutionaries as George Washington, the Countess of Huntingdon, the Earl of Dartmouth, English antislavery advocates, the Reverend Samuel Cooper, and James Bowdoin. Christians She ends the poem by saying that all people, regardless of race, are able to be saved and make it to Heaven. Among her tests for aesthetic refinement, Wheatley doubtless had in mind her careful management of metrics and rhyme in "On Being Brought from Africa to America." Recent critics looking at the whole body of her work have favorably established the literary quality of her poems and her unique historical achievement. Shuffelton also surmises why Native American cultural production was prized while black cultural objects were not. This means that each line, with only a couple of questionable examples, is made up of five sets of two beats. She does more here than remark that representatives of the black race may be refined into angelic mattermade, as it were, spiritually white through redemptive Christianizing. . That is, she applies the doctrine to the black race. "Their colour is a diabolic die.". It is the racist posing as a Christian who has become diabolical. 2002 Her most well-known poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America," is an eight-line poem that addresses the hypocrisy of so-called Christian people incorrectly believing that those of African heritage cannot be educated and incorrectly believing that they are lesser human beings. This is why she can never love tyranny. She is not ashamed of her origins; only of her past ignorance of Christ. Hers is a seemingly conservative statement that becomes highly ambiguous upon analysis, transgressive rather than compliant. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Later generations of slaves were born into captivity. Today: Oprah Winfrey is the first African American television correspondent; she becomes a global media figure, actress, and philanthropist. The Puritan attitude toward slaves was somewhat liberal, as slaves were considered part of the family and were often educated so that they could be converted to Christianity. Arthur P. Davis, writing in Critical Essays on Phillis Wheatley, comments that far from avoiding her black identity, Wheatley uses that identity to advantage in her poems and letters through "racial underscoring," often referring to herself as an "Ethiop" or "Afric." Read the full text of On Being Brought from Africa to America, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, "The Privileged and Impoverished Life of Phillis Wheatley". She was instructed in Evangelical Christianity from her arrival and was a devout practicing Christian. Personification. "On Being Brought From Africa to America" is an unusual poem. These lines can be read to say that ChristiansWheatley uses the term Christians to refer to the white raceshould remember that the black race is also a recipient of spiritual refinement; but these same lines can also be read to suggest that Christians should remember that in a spiritual sense both white and black people are the sin-darkened descendants of Cain. Wheatley's mistress encouraged her writing and helped her publish her first pieces in newspapers and pamphlets. For example: land/understandCain/train. Please continue to help us support the fight against dementia with Alzheimer's Research Charity. themes in this piece are religion, freedom, and equality, https://poemanalysis.com/phillis-wheatley/on-being-brought-from-africa-to-america/, Poems covered in the Educational Syllabus. The irony that the author, Phillis Wheatley, was highlighting is that Christian people, who are expected to be good and loving, were treating people with African heritage as lesser human beings. . This position called for a strategy by which she cleverly empowered herself with moral authority through irony, the critic claims in a Style article. Like them (the line seems to suggest), "Once I redemption neither sought nor knew" (4; my emphasis). Create your account. In "On Being Brought from Africa to America," Wheatley asserts religious freedom as an issue of primary importance. Indeed, at the time, blacks were thought to be spiritually evil and thus incapable of salvation because of their skin color. Today: Since the Vietnam War, military service represents one of the equalizing opportunities for blacks to gain education, status, and benefits. Her strategy relies on images, references, and a narrative position that would have been strikingly familiar to her audience. 12th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, Works by African American Writers: Homework Help, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: Summary & Characters, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" Summary, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" Analysis, British Prose for 12th Grade: Homework Help, British Poetry for 12th Grade: Homework Help, British Plays for 12th Grade: Homework Help, The Harlem Renaissance: Novels and Poetry from the Jazz Age, W.E.B. 1'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land.