Phillis Wheatley

Charles So
English 48A
Journal for Wheatley

Author Quote:
"How well the cry for liberty, and the reverse Disposition for the exercise of opressive Power over others agree,-I humbly think it does not require the Penertration of a philosopher to determine"

Internet Quote:
"It seems probable that the more we learn about her life, the more she will emerge as a black woman deeply conscious of her origins and and of the plight of the black race in the New World" (in "Phillis Wheatley and The New England Clergy" by James A. Levernier found in googlescholar.com search Phillis Wheatley)


Summary:
Phillis Wheatley wrote many personal poems and poems to well known people. In her writing there is a clear message of injustice, through her poems she talks of her intrepid past and people who inspire her. She writes vivid and eloquent poems as gratitude to the people who have effected her.

Personal Opinion:
Wheatley to me sounds very much like Shakespeare, there is a eloquent tone to all the passages. Although for me she has a style like Shakespeare her writing is still original and amazingly written. Her poem "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield," is beautiful for death, "Behold the prophet in his towering flight! He leaves the earth for heavens unmeasured height," for her to come out with this poem as her first published piece is quite impressive.I feel i have read her material before, i feel her rhyming and wordplay is way ahead of her time.