Wheatley Poetry

In reading Phillis Wheatley’s poems I temporarily forgot that she was a former slave. Her writing was very well written and used an interesting choice of allusions and vocabulary all contributed to a tone that would definitely be seen as far more advanced than any former slave or African during that time period. At times I thought her language to be a little over the top, but once I took the circumstances in consideration (she was an African and wanted to be taken seriously and respected, as well as she probably wanted to inspire and motivate Washington, the students at Cambridge, and William, Earl of Dartmouth), I understood the importance of her language. She signed her two letters as ‘Your Lordship’s most obedient and devoted Humble Servant.’ and ‘Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant.’ Often when people are placed at certain disadvantage, they tend to speak with flowery and exciting language in order to cancel previous notions made about them as well as to impress their audience (a type of brown nosing). In addition to this adoring language used to revere her audience, her writing contained many descriptive words that illustrated her points vividly and with color. Plain words were apparently not good enough, because each word expressed an emotion or feeling, so strongly that the reader could feel the mood. In one instance when she was extremely happy, she sounded like, “Hail, happy day! When smiling like the morn… congratulates thy blissful sway: Elate with hope…each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns….” (lines 1-6). However her as the situations she is writing about changes, her tone changes as well as her word choice, as if they go from one extreme to the other. “…by seeming cruel fate was snatched from Africa’s fancied happy seat: what pangs excruciating must molest, what sorrows labour in my parents breast! Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved…seized his babe beloved…tyrannic sway.” (lines 24-31).
I found the strikingly different stories of Wheatly’s abduction from Africa and slavery captivity to be quite strange. In one instance she uses the tale of her captivity to compare it to the colonists “slavery” from Britain and to elicit strong emotion from the Earl of Dartmouth, however when she tells the story to the students at Cambridge she calls it a rescue from obscurity. While addressing the Earl she is attempting to explain why she an African and former slave feels so fervently about American freedom (because during these times African American freedom was not even a major topic) she brings up the issue of tyranny, which the American people were feeling from Britain during this time. “Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved, that from a father seized his babe beloved: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray others may never feel tyrannic sway?” (lines 28-31). She is using the word “tyrannic” to really capture the Earl’s eye, because that word was in heavy rotation from the colonists during that time, so in using this word and comparing her enslavement to the situation of the colonists, she was appealing to him and attempting to induce strong emotion that would motivate him to work harder to secure American independence. In sharp contrast, when Wheatley is referring to her enslavement she is making it seem as if she was saved by her captors. “‘T was not long since, I left my native shore, the land of errors and Egyptian gloom…” (Poem 2, lines 3-4). Her audience has changed thus she must use her enslavement to fit her current situation and her audience. She is speaking to Cambridge students about religion, so she is taking her negative situation and proclaiming that God saved her from it. “Father if mercy! ‘t was thy gracious hand brought me in safety from those dark abodes.” (Poem 2, lines 5-6). She is preaching to the students about God’s great grace and mercy and convincing them trust in Him for all situations. She conveyed her enslavement as a positive thing, because it freed from the “dark abodes” in Africa and now here she is a free woman in America, all thanks to the Lord. Wheatley used different spins and outlooks on her captivity to inspire people in different situations as she saw fit.