26+ Why Did Phillis Wheatley Write Poems

A list of poems by Phillis Wheatley - The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets.

Why did phillis wheatley write poems. After marrying a free black man and having difficulty with childbirth poverty and illness she died at the age of 31. It is unclear precisely when Wheatley was freed from slavery although scholars suggest it occurred between 1774 and 1778. Many deal with pietistic Christian sentiments. Beside above what was Phillis Wheatleys goal.

Phillis Wheatley wrote To His Excellency General Washington to praise the cause of the Revolutionary War and to serve as an inspirational address for readers. He responded later that year with praise for her poetry. In To the University of Cambridge in New England probably the first poem she wrote but not published until 1773 Wheatley indicated that despite this exposure rich and unusual for an American slave her spirit yearned for the intellectual challenge of a more academic atmosphere. When her book of poetry Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral appeared she became the first American slave the first person of African descent and only the third colonial American woman to have her work published.

It was her way. A strong supporter of Americas fight for independence Wheatley penned several poems in honor of the Continental Armys commander George Washington. In 1773 Phillis Wheatley accomplished something that no other woman of her status had done. In 1776 Wheatley wrote a letter and poem in support of George Washington who replied with an invitation to visit him in Cambridge stating that he would be happy to see a person so favored by the muses.

She was emancipated from slavery about the same time that her volume of poetry was published in 1773. This was during the time her enslavers were alive and she was still quite the sensation. It included a forward signed by John Hancock and other Boston notablesas well as a portrait of Wheatleyall designed to prove that the work was indeed written by a black woman. In 1768 Wheatley wrote To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act.

Certified Educator Phillis Wheatley was writing in the late eighteenth century before the Romantic Movement arose and her use of poetic form is just what one would expect from an Augustan poet. Poet Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston Massachusetts on an enslaved person ship in 1761 and was purchased by John Wheatley as a personal servant to his wife. Her poetry expressed Christian themes and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. In 1776 Phillis Wheatley had written a poem to George Washington lauding his appointment as commander of the Continental Army.

What can be said is that the poems of Phillis Wheatley display a classical quality and restrained emotion. In many Wheatley uses classical mythology and ancient history as allusions including many references to the muses as inspiring her poetry. Born around 1753 Phillis Wheatley was the first black poet in America to publish a book. In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield.