The Poems of Phillis Wheatley With Letters and a Memoir

by Wheatley, Phillis

• ISBN13: 9780486475936
• ISBN10: 048647593X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-14
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Born in Africa in 1753, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped at the age of 7 and sold into slavery. At 19, she became the first black American poet to publish a book, on which this volume is based. Wheatley's elegies and odes offer fascinating glimpses into the origins of African-American literary traditions.

Author Biography

The first published African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley (1753-84) was born in West Africa, captured, and sold as a slave to the Wheatley family of Boston. Educated alongside her master's children, Wheatley achieved international renown with her initial poems but slipped into obscurity shortly afterward and died in poverty.

Table of Contents

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