Slavery Plays Jump-Rope with Racism: Examining the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley

Children’s literature in the context of this research paper (and hopefully too in the eyes of the majority) is the ultimate escape; it is neither box nor leash nor constraint of any sort. It is the one genre of literature that does not hold itself to a predetermined standard upon which the postmodern (as in the theory, not as in the time) minds can muddle together an amalgamation of text to form something novel. It is a genre of literature in which we look upon ourselves and our own childhood imaginations for inspiration. As such it is capable of taking us to the most beautiful places we could never imagine and so too can the pages turn as equally dark.

Phillis Wheatley’s legacy is one shrouded behind the veil of slavery in the 18^th Century. Her contributions to literature and the movement to abolish slavery might as well have been anonymous in that the academic world has never settled on the matter of where Wheatley’s allegiances lie in relation to the social issues of her time. Wheatley’s position in literature is a complex and entirely unique one as no other African American, female poet has mastered the classic art of lyric verse in an era that hosted slavery and sought to keep women on the outskirts of the social spectrum. In order for Wheatley to have captured an audience in this age, every aspect of her unlikely journey had to have been flawlessly aligned: from the compassion and ease of life that her masters provided for her, to their willingness to allow her to read classic poetry, even too is her own dedication to this mission important. Wheatley’s poetry specifically targets the widely important social issues of her time such as slavery, and religion—however; the question that wanders in the back of all of her readers’ minds has always been with the sincerity with which she wrote poetry. Many critics and poets alike have been divided over the ages as to Wheatley’s understanding of the situation she was placed into and the position she held as the first African American female poet.

We will attempt to bridge the gap from the truth, or allusion to truth, in Wheatley’s poetry and how it has evolved to influence later literary movements. As such we will also explore Marilyn Nelson’s A Wreath for Emmett Till and how this work draws upon the blueprint that Wheatley set forth so many years before. To do so, we’ll take a look at Wheatley’s own poetry and her personal letters. In recreating the psyche and drive behind Wheatley’s work, I the hope to juxtapose it with Nelson’s own process behind the creation of her own work, particularly regarding A Wreath for Emmett Till. Critical analyses of Wheatley’s work will be referenced as a secondary resort in order to explore her place in literary academia and her contributions to other literary movements as it relates to the children’s literature genre.

Much like the pressures that rest on the shoulders of many children’s literature writers, Wheatley was well aware of the pressures rested upon her shoulders as a female African American poet and though her poetry exalt the likes of such men as George Whitefield and George Washington, she equally understood that it was only through such praise that her work would be allowed to be published. Wheatley thus developed an impeccable skill for subtext in understanding this legacy, and thus rose to the occasion brilliantly through the underlining messages that she imbibes within the lines of her poetry. This was perhaps the only way to preserve the truth that she faced and lived through in the 18^th century, perhaps the only way to commune with future generations of what tortures she might have faced being trapped in this psychological prison that her time imposed upon her body and mind. So too is the case with Nelson in her conversations with children through her heroic crown sonnet; the implications that she makes in this work must be carefully planted and beautifully orchestrated to capture the minds of the young readers that will have read her poem. Karen Chandler, a literary critic, writes of Nelson’s delicate process:

“Nelson’s vision of this nightmare encompasses her efforts to orient young adult readers to connect emotionally and politically to disturbing historical events and to a much stereotyped, remote protagonist. Although Nelson has confessed that she needed the constraints of form to protect herself from the horrors of Till’s fate, her book enacts a process of acknowledging and resisting racist violence.” (Chandler, 101)

Chandler points to the very heart of the originality behind Nelson’s work here; children’s literature is often employed to teach life lessons and paint the world in black and white in its regard to morality. Nelson, however, seeks to explore the emotional implications of Till’s fate and which allow children to develop their own understanding of the shades of gray that exist within the morality of the world. Wheatley, in her elusive verse, provides a similar take on the world that she lives in. Taking a look at her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” it is clearly distinguishable from her other poetry as this piece is as direct as Wheatley gets to the subject of slavery and in its entirety she praises her experience for having brought her to Christianity. This piece also happens to be one of her shorter poems being only eight lines in length. The direct language of this poem is clear to read and understand, however, it is in Wheatley’s subtext and wordplay that she weaves layers into work which cover the many levels of understanding a woman in her position:

“‘TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d and join th’ angelic train.”
(13, Wheatley, Complete Writings)

What we can initially draw from this piece is stated most profoundly in the third line, “That there’s a God that there’s a Saviour too.” Wheatley, here, differentiates between the Christian God and a ‘Saviour’ which plays along with the rules of Christianity (in that God is the savior). This line seems to imply at first glance that from being brought over to American, it was mercy that led her to God who is also the savior of her life. Though a closer reading on this line implies that this God that she was introduced to is indeed not the savior, instead the life of slavery that she is imprisoned is so great a wrong that it will ultimately lead to the coming of this savior.

There is also another reading wherein Wheatley acknowledges and accepts the Christian God as her own and in a retort to the social context of slavery, she forces those who scorn African Christians to quell their hate towards what is also apart of “God’s creation.” This reading is more avidly detailed by Mary McAleer Balkun:

“The speaker, carefully aligning herself with those readers who will understand the subtlety of her allusions and references, creates a space wherein she and they are joined against a common antagonist: the “some” who “view our sable race with scornful eye”. The members of this group are not only guilty of the sin of reviling others […] but also guilty for failing to acknowledge God's work in saving ‘Negroes.’ The result is that those who would cast black Christians as other have now been placed in a like position. The audience must therefore make a decision: Be part of the group that acknowledges the Christianity of blacks, including the speaker of the poem, or be part of the anonymous “some” who refuse to acknowledge a portion of God's creation.” (131, Balkun)

As valid as this interpretation of Wheatley’s poem is, it does not acknowledge the same reading of what becomes the more important line of the piece, that separates God and savior as two different entities. In this line Wheatley not only challenges the wrong that it is to scorn the African race because of the color of their skin but also the Christian religion itself as this ‘God’ is certainly not intent on changing the way that things are done in the United States. Wheatley instead challenges the scorners by using the teachings of their own religion against them but also challenges Christianity for allowing the establishment of slavery. Wheatley’s positioning and italicized inclusion of the words ‘Pagan’ and ‘Saviour’ (Balkun makes mention that this may be a decision by the publisher rather than Wheatley, however, their position relative to each other in their line placement also connects them and makes them more relevant when the poem is heard) are terms taken from the Christian social circle to represent her own ideas. ‘Pagan’ here standing in as; any religion that doesn’t adhere to Christian tradition and ‘Saviour’ meaning the Christian God or Jesus Christ in the Christian teachings, though in their form Wheatley skews them to represent as such: Pagan as in her African lands who’s religious beliefs coincided with nothing that the corrupt Christian Church has taught her and savior as in the individual who would eventually deliver the United States from its bonds of slavery. Perhaps to go even further, Wheatley’s making reference to herself in this line as she is the resultant of an obscure and rare set of circumstance which gives her a voice for the African population in the United States.

Ultimately Wheatley juxtaposes a hidden voice to her piece whose message is stark in contrast to the religious idiom that can be read at face value in this poem. Even with its layers this sort of write is extremely risky for Wheatley and is expressed as such seemingly in the length of the piece which one might expect to be much longer being that it is on a very personal and important topic regarding her life’s story. It is in these dangerous subtleties that Wheatley excels over many of the literary figures of her era who didn’t have to face the constrictions that she did. It is also from this same struggle and talent that Wheatley fostered; that she becomes a pinnacle of a figure from which many literary generations thereafter have borrowed from. Particularly evident in all of Wheatley’s work, regardless of the interpretation, is the emotion that Wheatley is able to evoke from her audience—this natural talent lends itself to any message that the reader can take from her poetry; thus, the imprisoned Wheatley is honestly felt even through her poetry that might suggest another sentiment from a gloss-over reading of her work.