Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was presumed to have been born in 1753. There was no official record of her birth. Coming to Boston through the transatlantic slave trade as a child, her age was deduced to be seven or eight at the time. She was named after the slave ship that brought her, The Phillis. Her last name comes from her masters' last name, John and Susanna Wheatley.

Phillis Wheatley was passed over during the first stops of the transatlantic slave trade due to her frailty. Wikimedia commons

Mary Wheatley, the eldest daughter, aspired to be a teacher and decided to teach Phillis Wheatley to read and write. Wheatley showed a precocious nature and within months learned to read and write English. The family encouraged her studies, and soon she was translating classics from Greek and Latin into English.

Her elegy to Reverend Whitefield became her second published poem. This would later provide a lead to publish Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: The Book

Phillis Wheatley published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral when she was twenty years old. She received the news while she was crossing the Atlantic. She had been in London promoting the book, meeting influential people such as Benjamin Franklin, and hoping to escape the harsh Boston winter. She suffered from asthma and the Wheatleys felt the milder London winter would be better for her. She was also pursuing a publisher in London who agreed to print her poetry.

Wheatley's second poem to be published in a newspaper provided her a publishing lead. Written when she was sixteen, this poem jumpstarted Wheatley's popularity in colonial New England and Great Britain. She admired the famous preacher Reverend George Whitefield and wrote the elegy when he died suddenly. He preached a message of equality, which naturally struck a chord with the young Wheatley, who was still a slave despite her unusual level of autonomy. His preaching also inspired her to be baptized, which was uncommon for slaves.¹

Phillis Wheatley had to overcome many barriers to publish her first book, Wikimedia Commons

Mrs. Wheatley knew that Rev Whitefield was the personal clergymen of Countess of Huntingdon in London. She wrote and sent her the letter, knowing she may appreciate this thoughtful elegy to him. Being wealthy, the Countess was known to donate and support religious institutions and abolitionism. The personal connection to Whitefield and the anti-slavery bent gained Wheatley an audience with the Countess. The Countess connected Phillis Wheatley to the foremost prominent publisher in London, Archibald Bell. He would only publish her book under the condition of providing an attestation.

Phillis Wheatley was interviewed by over eighteen prominent community members, including John Hancock, later known for signing the "Declaration of Independence" with his famously large signature. All the men were impressed and eagerly signed a letter of attestation. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral would be published as she voyaged back across the US to be with the recently ill Susanna Wheatley.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: Summary

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral features a variety of poetry with twenty-eight poems in all, mostly of religious and Christian moral content. In one of Wheatley's most famous poems, she reflects on her kidnapping from Africa to America. A terrible evil turned into a blessing for her through her acceptance of Christianity.

Other poems include previously published poems featured in newspapers. Several are elegies, like the one to Mr. Whitefield, where she honors the unexpected passing of one of her favorite preachers. Many poems are elegies intended to help the aggrieved.

One particular poem addresses the graduating class of Harvard University. Many expound upon the virtues of a good Christian moral life. Others are inspired by true tales from guests at the Wheatley house. One of her first poems ever written is included in this collection. She had her first poem inspired by two of John Wheatley's guests. They talked about surviving a terrible storm while at sea. “On Messrs [Misters] Hussey and Coffin” was written when she was just fourteen years old.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: Analysis

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was a political and moral statement. At the time, White westerners considered Africans to be subhuman. They also considered poetry as one of the highest forms of intellectual display. If enslaved black women could write poetry, such as Phillis Wheatley, the action itself was a challenge to the established dogma of the time. Phillis Wheatley's poetry directly challenged the institution of slavery and its justification of subjugation.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral features poems that mostly follow the signature format of Phillis Wheatley, an AABB rhyming couplet format.

Each couplet ends in a rhyme and gives the reader the rhythm. Wheatley was inspired by the English poet Alexander Pope, who was known for his heroic couplets, a form of iambic pentameter used in epic and narrative poems.

Wheatley used personification, alliteration, and allusion quite often in her poetry.

The following quotes below are all examples of the techniques that she used.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral: Quotes

There are twenty poems total in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Below are excerpts from three poems that represent the range of her subjects.

This poem addresses Wheatley's audience of mostly white Christians. For her, Christianity is about equality. She never felt a part of any community as a black enslaved poet. On one hand, white Christians saw her as an exceptional showpiece and never accepted her as equal despite her impressive intellect. On the other, the Wheatleys kept Phillis in her own room, separate from the rest of the slaves and therefore different from them. She hoped for Christians to follow through on their promise, which is to be inclusive and not deny anyone the grace of God.

Wheatley wrote this about the experience of leaving the United States for the first time. Archibald Bell was publishing her book. She was boarding a ship for London. She would meet many famous people there, but her book would only get published while she was on her way back to America. Susanna Wheatley had fallen ill and felt Phillis Wheatley's presence would help her get better. This is an example of the close relationship between Susanna and Phillis. She was often regarded as her own child.

Many of Phillis Wheatley's poems are eulogies. Her second published poem about Whitefield's death created the circumstances that led to the publishing of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. In this particular poem, she turned the death of a young girl into something positive. She pointed out that life itself has its own hardships, and we should be grateful she no longer has to experience the painful burden of mortal life.

As a Christian, the mortal life is seen as a temporary passage to a preferred eternity. It's why many Christian denominations focus on using life as a means to assure ascendancy to heaven. Phillis Wheatley was no exception and cherished life and death. She encouraged the parents to be grateful that their daughter could enter the kingdom of God so early. If they're truly god-fearing Christians, they could see this as a blessing. To Phillis Wheatley, God had decided this child's time so early she must have been an angel in waiting.

1. Salisbury, Cynthia. Phillis Wheatley: legendary African-American poet (2001).