Phillis Wheatley

The Poems of Phillis Wheatley (eBook, ePUB)

With Letters and a Memoir

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Born in Africa in 1753, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped at the age of seven and sold into slavery. At nineteen, she became the first black American poet to publish a book, Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral, on which this volume is based. Wheatley's poetry created a sensation throughout the English-speaking world, and the young poet read her work in aristocratic drawing rooms on both sides of the Atlantic. The London Chronicle went so far as to declare her "perhaps one of the greatest instances of pure, unassisted genius that the world ever produced."
Wheatley's elegies and odes offer fascinating glimpses into the origins of African-American literary traditions. Most of the poems express the effects of her religious and classical New England education, consisting of elegies for the departed and odes to Christian salvation. This edition of Wheatley's historic works includes letters and a biographical note written by one of the poet's descendants. Includes a selection from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "On Being Brought from Africa to America."

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Guilford Publications
• Seitenzahl: 96
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Februar 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780486115290
• Artikelnr.: 39137992

Autorenporträt

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was an African American poet. Born in West Africa, she was stolen into slavery as a young girl and purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston. Raised to work as a servant for Susanna Wheatley, she was tutored by the Wheatley children in reading and writing, learning Greek and Latin by the age of twelve and writing her first poem at fourteen. Recognizing her talent, the Wheatley family sought publication for her work, eventually moving Phillis to London at the age of twenty in search of wealthy patrons. In 1773, her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral became the first book of poetry ever published by an African American author, earning her worldwide fame and the acclaim of such figures as George Washington, Jupiter Hammon, Voltaire, and John Paul Jones. That same year, she was emancipated by the Wheatleys, and in 1778 she married a free black businessman named John Peters. Her final years were plagued with illness, debt, and manual labor; her death at the age of thirty-one cut short the improbable life of a true pioneer of American literature.

Inhaltsangabe

Dedication To the Public Preface Mr. Wheatley's Letter to the Publisher Poems: To Maecenas On virtue On being brought from Africa to America To the University of Cambridge
in New England To the Kings's Most Excellent Majesty On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell On the Death of the Rev. George Whitfield On the Death of a Young Lady of five years of age On the Death of a Young Gentleman To a Lady
on the Death of her Husband Goliath of Gath Thoughts on the Works of Providence To a Lady
on the Death of three Relationships To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady Hymn of the Morning Hymn of the Evening Isaiah-63rd Chap. 1st and 8th Verses On Recollection On Imagination A Funeral Poem on the Death Of C.E.
an Infant of twelve months To Captain H-----D To the Right Honorable William
Earl of Dartmouth Ode to Neptune
on Mrs. W----'s Voyage to England To a Lady
on her coming to North America with her Son
for the Recovery of her Health To a Lady
on her remarkable Preservation in a Hurricane
in North Carolina To a Lady and her Children
on the Death of her Son and their Brother To a Gentleman and Lady
on the Death of the Lady's Brother and sister
and a Child of the name of Avis
aged one year On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall To a Gentleman
on his voyage to Great Britain
for the Recovery of his Health To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory
on reading his Sermons on Daily Devotion
in which that Duty is recommended and assisted On the Death of J.C.
an Infant A Hymn to Humanity To the Hon. T.H.
Esq.
on the Death of his Daughter Niobe in Distress for her Children slain by Apollo To S.M.
a young African Painter
on seeing his Works To his Honor the Lieutenant Governor
on the Death of his Lady A Farewell to America A Rebus Answer to the Rebus Memoir