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ashkitty93's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
4.5
I’ve been meaning to read Phillis Wheatley for years, ever since I read Patsy’s Dear America diary, I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly.
This is a touching collection, many written in memoriam of friends and children who had passed on.
#20BooksByBlackFolx
This is a touching collection, many written in memoriam of friends and children who had passed on.
#20BooksByBlackFolx
steller0707's review
4.0
Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch'd from Afric's fancy'd happy seat:
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labour in my parent's breast?
Steel'd was that soul and by no misery mov'd
That from a father seiz'd his babe belov'd:
Such, such my case. And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?
Brought as a slave from Africa to America in 1761, Wheatley’s only schooling was in the family she served. Yet within twelve years she had begun writing these poems. The subjects vary from nature to the re-telling of a myth; many are written as memorials to people who have died. Though not of high literary value, they are historically significant.
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch'd from Afric's fancy'd happy seat:
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labour in my parent's breast?
Steel'd was that soul and by no misery mov'd
That from a father seiz'd his babe belov'd:
Such, such my case. And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?
Brought as a slave from Africa to America in 1761, Wheatley’s only schooling was in the family she served. Yet within twelve years she had begun writing these poems. The subjects vary from nature to the re-telling of a myth; many are written as memorials to people who have died. Though not of high literary value, they are historically significant.
theliteraryteapot's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
3.0
This poetry collection is an interesting classic which should be talked about more when studying classic literature, American lit/poetry, African-American lit/poetry (which wasn't the case during my degree in English-speaking lit), as Phillis Wheatley is the first African American poet to publish a poetry collection.
- Overall, this is a very Christian poetry collection, not what I'm particularly fond of.
- Unlike what people and academics have said, I thought the poet didn't really discuss her African heritage that much. When she does, sometimes she says:
'I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatched from Afric's fancied happy seat' (From "To the right honourable William, earl of Dartmouth");
and other times she writes:
'Twas not long since I left my native shore
The land of errors [...]
Father of mercy, t'was thy gracious hand
Brought me in safety from those dark abodes'. (From "To the University of Cambridge, in New-England").
- Most of her poems were about reassuring a person who had lost a loved one, writing things such as:
'Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans?
Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans.
Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain,
Why would you wish your daughter back again?
[...]
Adore the God who gives and takes away;
Eye him in all, his holy name revere,' (From "On the death of a young lady of five years of age."),
which... I'm not sure how reassuring that can be.
- She had a great use of rhymes and rhythm but some poems were so long and became repetitive.
- Overall, this is a very Christian poetry collection, not what I'm particularly fond of.
- Unlike what people and academics have said, I thought the poet didn't really discuss her African heritage that much. When she does, sometimes she says:
'I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatched from Afric's fancied happy seat' (From "To the right honourable William, earl of Dartmouth");
and other times she writes:
'Twas not long since I left my native shore
The land of errors [...]
Father of mercy, t'was thy gracious hand
Brought me in safety from those dark abodes'. (From "To the University of Cambridge, in New-England").
- Most of her poems were about reassuring a person who had lost a loved one, writing things such as:
'Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans?
Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans.
Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain,
Why would you wish your daughter back again?
[...]
Adore the God who gives and takes away;
Eye him in all, his holy name revere,' (From "On the death of a young lady of five years of age."),
which... I'm not sure how reassuring that can be.
- She had a great use of rhymes and rhythm but some poems were so long and became repetitive.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Child death
rtwilliams16's review against another edition
3.0
Good collection, many of the poems are about the loss of a loved one. I mostly read it because of Phillis Wheatley's historic significance of being the first published African American poet. Poetry fans may like it more than I did.