Comparing Phyllis Wheatley's Upon Being Brought From Africa To America

Indeed, Wheatley was using her gifts to make a remarkable change in history; which was an education and Christianity to describe the decapitated ways they used to treat slaves and the deplorable conditions that the slaves had to endure. But, for certain Wheatley uses Christianity to be her outlet and used her educated mind to write freely about the experience with Christianity. Primarily in the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” She mention in the first line even thought she was taken away from her homeland and almost pass away, she thanks God for saving her and sending her to an extraordinary slave master’s family and beat her odds of surviving . To add-on she gave others hope and a sense of gratitude that the slaves themselves

This poems speaks of the author’s religion, past, and her experiences with race in America. This poem is a rarity because most of Wheatley’s poems do not explicitly mention race. This poem, however, is an exception. Wheatley’s poem states, “Some view our sable race with scornful eye, ‘Their colour is a diabolic die.’ Remember, Christians, Negro's, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.”

Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is dated in 1773, immediately a reader can make an assumption based on the title that the poem is about slavery and someone who has come to the new continent as a slave. The author feels that the Africans should be pleased that they were brought from Africa to America and saved from their Pagan land (Wheatley). The author makes it clear in the first four lines of the poem that being brought from Africa to a new continent as slaves allowed them to find their god and their entry into Christianity as hope for themselves (Explanation of: 'On Being Brought From Africa to America' by Phillis Wheatley). Wheatley even stated in her poem that "taught my benighted soul to understand That there's

Again Wheatley’s plays with words here, the use of “refined” leads us back to the line before, “black as Cain”, Cain meaning, sugar cane, the refining could mean that every black needs to be refined as a sugar cane just to be in a society with white people and as she says, “angelic train”. The use of train here could mean white community in which they are white just like angels and the black community cannot join them just because of there color, and the dark color represents devil; devils and angels can’t be on the same

“Their colour is a diabolic die. . . .” This is a quote from the poem written by Phillis Wheatley entitled, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” written in 1773 . First will be the exploration Wheatley’s journey to America. Followed by her conversion to Christianity. Lastly, this essay will explore what Wheatley found to be most important, her race, and how it plays into her new found faith.

1. Phillis Wheatley’s audience in “On Being Brought to America” is the Africans brought to America by the slave trade. I believe this because in line 5, she states that “Some view our sable race with scornful eye”. She wants the African people to believe that all can become a Christian and all can receive redemption. 2.

Religious Effects Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phyllis Wheatley was the first book to be published by a black American, and “On being brought from Africa to America” was probably one of the most famous poems included in the book. It discusses Wheatley’s experience of being taken as a slave, and the religious effects of the experience. Religion played a great role in shaping Wheatley’s outlook on many subjects. “On being brought from Africa to America” expresses religion’s effect on Wheatley through her word choices and the overall message of the poem.

In Wheatley’s poem “To a Lady on Her Husband’s Death,” she writes “Till nature in her final wreck shall lie, and her last groan shall rend the azure sky; not, not till then, his active soul shall claim his body, a divine, immortal frame.” (Wheatley 11) This poem supports Wheatley being a selfless poet and shows how she expresses the feelings and emotions of those around her. Wheatley paints a vivid image in each poem she writes to show her readers what others in the community around her are going through and the experiences she has been through and witnessed. In Wheatley’s poem “On Being Brought From Africa to America,” Wheatley writes “T was mercy brought me from my pagan land, taught me benighted soul to understand that there’s a God—that

In 1773, there were slaves all over colonial America working in plantations, and cleaning their masters houses. It wasn’t common for a slave to be writing poetry with their owners consent. Phyllis Wheatley’s success as the first African American published poet was what inspired generations to tell her story. It was her intellectual mind and point of view that made her different from others, both black and white. Phyllis’s story broke the barrier for all African American writers, and proved that no matter the gender or race, all human beings are capable of having an intelligent state of mind.

To Dickinson, darkness seems to represent the unknown. The focus of this poem is people trying to find their way in the dark, where nothing can be foreseen. Sight is a prevalent theme in Untitled, achieved through words like

Her subversive style of writing imposed ironic criticism against a racist society. Her poems displayed political, classical tradition, and irony. In Wheatley’s “On Being Brought From Africa to America”, the term “Benighted”(1) was used as being in a state of darkness or night not only to indicate the color of her skin but also to reflect the current slave status of her life. She indicated the fact that she was kidnapped, also emphasizing that she was also in the hands of mercy. Human rights and freedom were incorporated into sermons and Wheatley's poetry.

In the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson, death is described as a person, and the narrator is communicating her journey with death in the afterlife. During the journey the speaker describes death as a person to accompany her during this journey. Using symbolism to show three locations that are important part of our lives. The speaker also uses imagery to show why death isn 't’ so scary.

When Dickinson was young she thought of death as a kind, peaceful gentleman. She elaborates on this idea in her poem “Because I could not Stop for Death”, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me/ We slowly drove - He knew no haste,” Emily Dickinson uses the personification of Death in a way that bears resemblance to a classy, peaceful gentleman who is willing to slowly guide and patiently wait for a lady. Her wording also gives the connotation that she is young and in love with this gentle Death. This idea abruptly turns into hatred when she loses her parents.

Whitman and Dickinson share the theme of death in their work, while Whitman decides to speak of death in a more realistic point of view, Dickinson speaks of the theme in a more conceptual one. In Whitman’s poems, he likes to have a more empathic view of individuals and their ways of living. For example, in Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet talks about not just of himself, but all human beings, and of how mankind works into the world and the life of it. Even though the poem mostly talks about life and the happiness of it, Whitman describes also that life itself has its ending, and that is the theme of death. For Dickinson, she is the complete opposite of happiness.

In “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson uses imagery and symbols to establish the cycle of life and uses examples to establish the inevitability of death. This poem describes the speaker’s journey to the afterlife with death. Dickinson uses distinct images, such as a sunset, the horses’ heads, and the carriage ride to establish the cycle of life after death. Dickinson artfully uses symbols such as a child, a field of grain, and a sunset to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. Dickinson utilizes the example of the busyness of the speaker and the death of the sun to establish the inevitability of death.