On Being Brought from Africa to America

Phillis Wheatley—the first African American author of a published book of poetry—published “On Being Brought from Africa to America” in 1773. The poem is included within her collection Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

“On Being Brought from Africa to America” is written in neoclassical style, a literary movement that sought to replicate the works of the Greek and Roman classics. As evidenced by its strict formalism and moralistic tone, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is the definition of neoclassic standards. While the poem explores its subject without emotional sentimentality, it still challenges the institution of slavery through various logical and ethical stances. The poem heavily relies on Christian theology to make its claims.

A brief poem, only eight lines in its entirety, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is a testament to Wheatley’s poetic concision and the shortest poem of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. As most of her work is comprised of elegiac testaments or direct addresses, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” stands out among Wheatley’s work as her most personal. Wheatley rarely incorporated direct elements of her own life in her poetry, preferring to focus on an external subject or artistic muse. With this poem, Wheatley provides a minor glimpse into her interior world, addressing the subjects most important to her: racial equality and the eradication of American slavery.

Poet Biography

Phillis Wheatley was abducted from West Africa around the age of seven. She was sold by a local chief to a slave trader under the command of Captain Peter Gwinn, who was specifically instructed by the ship’s owner, Timothy Fitch, not to obtain any women or children. She was taken aboard a slave ship and transported across the Atlantic. Wheatley’s chronic asthma rendered her too frail and sickly for the physical demands of plantation work; she was taken to Boston where she was sold and purchased by John Wheatley, a wealthy merchant, in 1761. John Wheatley named her Phillis (after the name of the ship that transported her) and presented her as a gift to his wife Susanna.

Though not entirely waived of household duties, Wheatley was separated from other slaves and spent most of her time within the company of the Wheatley family. Taking notice of her precociousness, the Wheatleys taught her to read and write. She learned mathematics, read the Bible, studied Milton and enjoyed the Greek and Latin classics. “On Being brought from Africa to America” was written when Wheatley was just 14 years old. Considered a literary prodigy, Wheatley began composing poems to notable individuals including King George III, George Washington, George Whitefield, among others. She was effectively a literary celebrity within her time.

As Wheatley experienced difficulties publishing her book in the colonies, she traveled to England in the spring of 1773 to seek further opportunities. Shortly after Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published, in November of 1773, the Wheatleys emancipated Phillis from enslavement. Susanna Wheatley died in 1774 and John Wheatley in 1778. After their deaths, Phillis lost many of her former patrons. She struggled to gain enough support to publish a second collection as a free woman.

Wheatley married John Peters, also a freed slave, against the advice of close friends and colleagues. Peters was a grocer, who financially struggled and accumulated many debts throughout their married life. The couple lived in poverty and two of Wheatley’s children died in young childhood. Peters was imprisoned in 1784, forcing Wheatley to seek work as a scullery maid at a boarding house. While trying to care for an infant son, she fell ill and died in obscurity on December 5th, 1784.

Poem Text

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.”

Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,

May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” 1773. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

The poem begins with the speaker claiming it was “mercy” that brought her from her “Pagan land” (Line 1). The title, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” implies that Africa is the “Pagan land” in question here. Thus, the speaker is of African descent and thereby writing as an enslaved person. The poem continues to personify “mercy” as a teacher who “taught” the speaker “to understand” (Line 2). The speaker refers to herself as a “benighted soul” (Line 2), or an ignorant or immoral person lacking educational opportunity. Line 3 introduces religion: The speaker asserts that “there’s a God” and “there’s a Saviour too,” alluding to a Christian belief system. The speaker states that “redemption” (or salvation) is a concept she “neither sought nor knew” (Line 4), indicating that her Christian faith developed only after her arrival to America.

The second half of the poem marks a change in the speaker’s address. She shifts from an internal meditation to an external observation: “Some view our sable race with scornful eye” (Line 5). “Some” here, suggests the judgements of other people, while “sable race” clarifies that African Americans are the ones being judged. The following line, “‘Their colour is a diabolic die’” (Line 6) is in quotation marks, implying this is a line the speaker has overheard others saying. The word “colour” references the color of the person’s skin and here, that color is viewed as “diabolic” or evil. In Line 7, the speaker offers, “Remember, Christians” (Line 7) where she proclaims that “Negros, black as Cain / May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (Lines 7-8). With these final lines, the speaker suggests that African Americans are equally worthy of “refinement,” or developing Christian values, and therefore are also welcome on the journey towards salvation.