Wheatley’s Poem On Being Brought from Africa to America Essays -- Poet

Wheatleys poem, On Being Brought from Africa to America is part of a set of works that Henry Louis render 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 notice 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 individuals behaviors be influenced by the examples of others and that all people are equal. Understanding Phillis Wheatleys 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 veritable(a) though perception is based on individual perspective, analysis and explication will reveal the contrariety Phillis Wheatley observed between society and the Christian Ideal and show 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 ageing 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 Wheatleys, with their two children, Nathaniel and Mary (Brawley 12), taught Phillis to read and write in English and besides 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 psyches life) and many of her works are... ...//www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/phillis-wheatley.Phillis Wheatley. encyclopaedia 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 Scribners 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.