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On Being Brought from Africa to America. By Phillis Wheatley. 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand. That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
- Phillis Wheatley
For instance, “ On Being Brought from Africa to America ,”...
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On Being Brought from Africa to America. By Phillis...
- Phillis Wheatley
"On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a poem written by Phillis Wheatley, published in her 1773 poetry collection "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral." The poem describes Wheatley's experience as a young girl who was enslaved and brought to the American colonies in 1761.
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Similar Poetry
‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ by Phillis Wheatleyis a simple poem about the power of Christianity to bring people to salvation. In the lines of this piece, Wheatley addresses all those who see her and other enslaved people as less because of their skin tone. She wants them all to know that she was brought by “mercy” to America and to re...
Wheatley’s most prominent themes in this piece are religion, freedom, and equality. The latter is implied, at least religiously, in the last lines. This poem is more about the power of God than it is about equal rights, but it is still touched on. She believes that her discovery of God, after being forcibly enslaved in America, was the best thing t...
‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ by Phillis Wheatley is a short, eight-line poem that is structured with a rhyme schemeof AABBCCDD. This simple and consistent pattern makes sense for Wheatley’s straightforward message. In regards to the meter, Wheatley makes use of the most popular pattern, iambic pentameter. This means that each line, wit...
Wheatley makes use of several literary devices in ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’. These include but are not limited to: 1. Personification 2. Allusion 3. Alliteration The first, personification, is seen in the first lines in which the poet says it was “mercy” that brought her to America. Alliteration is a common and useful device that he...
Lines 1-4
In the first lines of ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America,’ Wheatley states that it was “mercy” that brought her to America from her “Pagan land,” Africa. Despite what might first come to someone’s mind who knows anything about slavery in the United States, she saw it as an act of kindness. This is all due to the fact that she was able to learn about “God” and Christianity. Her “benighted,” or troubled soul was saved in the process. She knew “redemption” through this transitionand banish...
Lines 5-8
She addresses her African heritage in the next lines, stating that there are many who look down on her and those who look like her. If you have “sable” or dark-colored skin then you are seen with a “scornful eye”. This color, the speakersays, may think is a sign of the devil. In the final lines, Wheatley addresses any who think this way. She asks that they remember that anyone, no matter their skin color, can be said by God. They can “join th’ angelic train”. The use of “th’” and “refin’d” ra...
This very religious poem is similar to many others that have been written over the last four hundred years. Some of the best include: 1. ‘A Hymn to God the Father’ by John Donne– Donne is a great source for religious poetry. 2. ‘The Collar’ by George Herbert– a less strict religious poem that includes the questioning of religion. 3. Alfred Lord Ten...
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- October 9, 1995
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Poems. On Being Brought from Africa to America. Phillis Wheatley. 1753 –. 1784. 'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand. That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die."
Phillis Wheatley: Poems Summary and Analysis of "On Being Brought from Africa to America" Summary. In this poem, the speaker claims that mercy brought them from their "Pagan land" and taught their "benighted soul"—their soul shrouded in darkness—that there is a God and a Saviour. Previously, the speaker had never sought or known to seek redemption.
- Phillis Wheatley
The four heroic couplets that constitute Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” delve deeply into the psyche of the young African American slave narrator who...
