Phillis+Wheatly

=Phillis Wheatley=


 * Who: || Phillis Wheatley ||
 * What: || A famous African-American poet ||
 * When: || 1753-1784 ||
 * Where: || Senegal, Africa and Boston, Massachusetts ||

Phillis Wheatley is a famous African-American poet from the 1700s. This is one of her poems:

While an intrinsic ardor prompts to write, The muses promise to assist my pen; ‘Twas not long since I left my native shore The land of errors, and Egyptian gloom. Father of mercy, ‘twas Thy gracious hand Brought me in safety from those dark abodes. Students, to you ‘tis given to scan the heights Above, to traverse the ethereal space, And mark the systems of revolving worlds. Still more, ye sons of science ye receive The blissful news by messengers from heav’n, How Jesus blood for your redemption flows. See Him with hands outstretched upon the cross; Immense compassion in His bosom glows; He hears revilers, nor resents their scorn: What matchless mercy in the Son of God! When the whole human race by sin had fall’n, He deigned to die that they might rise again, And share with in the sublimest skies, Life without death, and glory without end. Improve your privileges while they stay, Ye pupils, and each hour redeem, that bears Or good or bad report of you to heav’n. Let sin, that baneful evil to the soul, By you be shunned, nor once remit your guard; Suppress the deadly serpent in its egg. Ye blooming plants of human race divine, An Ethiop tells you ‘tis your greatest foe; Its transient sweetness turns to endless pain, And immense perdition sinks the soul. (Phillis Wheatley: Precursor of American Abolitionism)

Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in Africa and died in 1784. She was captured in 1761 and taken to Boston, MA. Since Wheatley started to have an interest in songs, poems, etc., her Boston family educated her by teaching her to read and write in English. She mastered this skill in 1762 and then and Latin in 1765. 1776 was the year she wrote her first poem. In 1770, her poems started to get published in the colonies and in London. Phillis got her name because the ship's name was Phillis and she was bought by the Wheatley family. In 1773, the Wheatley family sent Phillis to England for health and exhibition. In Wheatley's whole life, she wrote over 100 poems and published two books. 1774 was the year that Susanne Wheatley, Phillis Wheatley's owner, died. Since this happened, Phillis went off and married John Peters. They had three kids, but they died at birth.

People involved with Phillis Wheatley- •The Wheatley Family "bought" her in 1761 •Wheatley honored George Washington with a poem •She married John Peters •Susanne Wheatley was the mother of the Wheatley family in Boston, MA

media type="youtube" key="tPWQqMl9cEA" height="282" width="350"media type="youtube" key="S0fKdJzps3I" height="290" width="355" Another Wheatley quote is: "A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine." She owns this quote because she was honoring George Washington in 1775 for his work as a general.

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