Phillis Wheatley

Rosie Charles
AP English III
9/15/09

Phillis Wheatley was a slave girl from Boston, who wrote and published her own book of poems. In the poem On Being Brought from Africa to America, Wheatley wrote amazingly. Her mood was calm, yet intense. The meaning was heartfelt, but still strong. The poem itself was simple in writing style, yet elegant in diction, like figurative language.


“Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land,” This is the first line in the poem written by Wheatley. If you break the sentence into modern day English, it might read “It was mercy that brought me from my pagan land”. In this quote, I believe Wheatley was trying to express that God’s mercy and grace brought her from where she once was. She also explains that where she once was, was a place that believed in many Gods (see pagan) The reason why I believe she is referring to God is because words in the poem signify this. Word like: God, Savior, Cain, and angelic train.


The word diabolic means: “in degree of wickedness or cruelty; characteristic of the devil; satanic”. In the quote “Their color is a diabolic dye”, Wheatley is expressing that race, color, and/or ethnicity is an evil covering of the true individual. I believe she brings this into her poem because, as most slaves have, Phillis has surely experienced discrimination. In Wheatley’s day, and modern day, the color of a person’s skin is the main reason why someone would be discriminated against, besides religion.


“May be refined, and join the angelic train. The people that the author is referring to are people of every race, color, and ethnicity. It seems, to me, that the main purpose of this poem is for the author to express their personal views. Her views are that all people, even people as black as Cain, may get into heaven. She uses “as black’, because she is referring to herself. Slaves were not considered worthy enough for basic moral rights, so I’m sure people believed that they didn’t deserve to go to heaven. I believe she uses Cain as the prime example because Cain, according to the bible, was suppose to behold the mark of the beast. Wheatley is trying to concur that anyone can make it to heaven, no matter what.