American Poet: Phillis Wheatley Essay -- African American Poet Poetry

American Poet Phillis WheatleyPhillis Wheatley was an African-born slave in the last quarter of the eighteenth-century in unfermented England. She was born in West Africa and brought to America on the slave ship Phillis. She was, however, much more than chattel-she was a poet. Phillis was the first African American to have a book published. In a time when women were not expected to be able to read or write, and when teaching an African American to be literate was frowned upon, Phillis Wheatley became educated in Latin and English literature. The education of Phillis Wheatley was, for the most part, for the intent of training a servant and would-be companion for domestic utility, in which they undoubtedly succeeded. However, they got an intellectual adornment who, with her companionship of the poesys of Alexander Pope, the Puritanical whiteness of her thoughts, and ability to write metrical compositions, soon became a celebrity among Boston?s social elite (Richmond 18,19).Philliss published her first poem in 1767, only a few short years after her initial introduction to the English language. Between the time of the publication of her first poem and her first book, Poems on Various Subjects, in 1773, Phillis gained notoriety by publishing elegies in New England newspapers her most famous elegy being that for a public Methodist minister, Reverend George Whitefield in 1770.Although Phillis?s rhyme was well received throughout New England, there were people who did not believe all of the poetry was actually written by Phillis. Her expertise with the heroic couplet form perfected by her literary hero Alexander Pope and the allusions to classic classical and English poetry caused the speculation. In order to prove the validity of her poetry, Joh... ...iterature. New York Norton, 1997. 165-167.O?Neale, Sondra A. Phillis Wheatley. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 31 American Colonial Writers, 1735-1781. Ed. Emory Elliot. Princeton Gale, 1984. 260-267.Ric hmond, ouzel A. Bit the Vassal Soar Interpretive Essays on the Life and Poetry of Phillis Wheatley and George Moses Horton. Washington, D.C. Howard UP, 1974.Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers? Gardens. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York Norton, 1997. 2383.Wheatley, Phillis. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. New York AMS Press, 1976. Rpt. of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Philadelphia, 1786.---. To His Excellency General Washington. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York Norton, 1997. 177.