Phillis Wheatley Essay
Journal 1: Phillis Wheatley
First of all, I think it is important to note that the two poems discussed in this journal are either addressed to or written concerning white, prominent, men who have had some hand in dealing with slavery in America. Although I don’t know the “William” she is referring to in the first poem, it seems, through her poem and his title, that he had a great deal of power and the ability to make some political change. Washington, on the other hand, is more of an obvious example, given that he was one of the Founding Fathers of America. He supported the Constitution which states that all men are created equal, even though he himself was a slave owner.
To the Right Honorable WILLIAM, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majefty’s Principal Secretary of State for North America, &tc.
I think it is important to note that New England seemed to be a prominent character in this poem. Wheatley uses this, in the beginning, to show the bright and promising land of freedom that New England is supposed to be. Later, after realizing freedom wasn’t in her future, she sort of touches on the irony of how the owl seeks the darkness of caves when outside “the splendors of the morning light” shine. Ironically, freedom dies under the skies of which it had been thought to have …show more content…
Firstly, Wheatley seems to be praising the heavens because Mother Nature decided to intervene in the terribleness that is slavery. Eolus, the God of the winds, also uses his powers to defend the slaves. I think she does this to show that slavery, or owning people and treating them as animals or objects, is cruel and so obviously incorrect on such a basic, natural level. In my opinion, this is brilliant. She uses dramatic imagery of God’s descending the heavens to show how horrific and unnatural slavery is to make people step back and realize what slavery really is; owning people as property for their own
First of all, I think it is important to note that the two poems discussed in this journal are either addressed to or written concerning white, prominent, men who have had some hand in dealing with slavery in America. Although I don’t know the “William” she is referring to in the first poem, it seems, through her poem and his title, that he had a great deal of power and the ability to make some political change. Washington, on the other hand, is more of an obvious example, given that he was one of the Founding Fathers of America. He supported the Constitution which states that all men are created equal, even though he himself was a slave owner.
To the Right Honorable WILLIAM, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majefty’s Principal Secretary of State for North America, &tc.
I think it is important to note that New England seemed to be a prominent character in this poem. Wheatley uses this, in the beginning, to show the bright and promising land of freedom that New England is supposed to be. Later, after realizing freedom wasn’t in her future, she sort of touches on the irony of how the owl seeks the darkness of caves when outside “the splendors of the morning light” shine. Ironically, freedom dies under the skies of which it had been thought to have …show more content…
Firstly, Wheatley seems to be praising the heavens because Mother Nature decided to intervene in the terribleness that is slavery. Eolus, the God of the winds, also uses his powers to defend the slaves. I think she does this to show that slavery, or owning people and treating them as animals or objects, is cruel and so obviously incorrect on such a basic, natural level. In my opinion, this is brilliant. She uses dramatic imagery of God’s descending the heavens to show how horrific and unnatural slavery is to make people step back and realize what slavery really is; owning people as property for their own