Comparing Phillis Wheatley And Christina Rossetti's Poetry

Within the community of poets, it is rare to find recognized female poets, especially those who share similar themes despite different time periods. Phillis Wheatley, a black American woman, was a slave and poet, while Christina Rossetti was a British poet with two well-known brothers who founded the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Despite the obstacles of their times, these two women persevered as poets and created historically poignant works. Although written under different circumstances, the subject of departure in Wheatley and Rossetti’s poetry enables the transient state between life and death. This paper will focus on how this act of departure is depicted in the poem, how it simultaneously allows to yearn for the past and seek the future as well as the surrounding historical context.
While the two poems are written almost a hundred years apart, it is notable, based on surrounding historical events, that they

In fact, to be clear on the concept of departure, the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “[a] boundary separating two regions; a separation, division” as well as “[t]he action of departing this life; decease, death” (Oxford). Both definitions ties in with Wheatley and Rossetti’s poems by becoming a central piece in a historical moment. “A Farewell to America” which is written and published in 1773, is also the time when America began its revolution against Great Britain. Wheatley, as a black slave who gained recognition for her poetry the other country faces a dilemma between remaining in what she recognizes as her home and past, America, versus the potential of living in freedom and pursuing the path of a poet. Although, only recently freed, Great Britain