The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley

by Phillis Wheatley, John C. Shields (Editor)

The past two decades have seen a dramatic resurgence of interest in black women writers, as authors such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison have come to dominate the larger Afro-American literary landscape. Yet the works of the writers who founded and nurtured the black women's literary tradition--nineteenth-century Afro-American women--have remained buried in research libraries or in expensive hard-to-find reprints, often inaccessible to twentieth-century readers.
Oxford University Press, in collaboration with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research unit of The New York Public Library, rescued the voice of an entire segment of the black tradition by offering thirty volumes of these compelling and rare works of fiction, poetry, autobiography, biography, essays, and journalism. Responding to the wide recognition this series has received, Oxford now presents four of these volumes in paperback. Each book contains an introduction written by an expert in the field, as well as an overview by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the General Editor.
Individually, each of these four works now in paperback--including The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimké , Elizabeth Keckley's Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House , Six Women's Slave Narratives , and The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley --stands as a unique literary contribution in its own right. Collectively providing a rich sampling of the range of works written by black women over the course of more than a century, they pay tribute (now long overdue) to an extraordinary and influential group of Afro-American women. These new editions will enable teachers, students, and general readers of American literature, history, Afro-American culture, and women's studies to hear at last, and learn from, the lost voice of the nineteenth-century black woman writer.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, The United States Of America, History, African American, American History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Phillis Wheatley (1753 – December 5, 1784?) was the first professional African American poet and the first African-American woman whose writings were published. Born in Gambia, Senegal, she was enslaved at age eight. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write, and helped encourage her poetry.

Born about 1753 in West Africa, she was kidnapped in 1763 and taken to America on a slave ship called The Phillis (this is where she got her name). She was purchased in Boston by John Wheatley. Wheatley and his wife Mary instructed the young girl and encouraged her education including study of Latin and history. Mrs.Wheatley arranged for Phillis to work around the house and allowed Mary Wheatley to tutor Phillis. Mary Wheatley taught Phillis science, geography, and history. Phillis was also taught English and studied the American Bible extensively. Within 2 ½ years of joining the Wheatley family, Phillis was fully literate. At the age of 12 she was reading the Greek and Latin classics, and passages from the Bible. This amazed the Wheatleys. Phillis was encouraged to continue to learn and was allowed to express herself, so much so she was also provided pen and paper on her nightstand in case she was inspired to write during the night.

In 1773, Phillis Wheatley was sent to London with Nathaniel Wheatley. However Wheatley’s visit did not go unnoticed. She held an audience with the Lord Mayor of London, she was also scheduled to have a session where she recited a poem to George III was arranged, but Phillis returned home before expected. A collection of her poetry was also published in London during this visit. Wheatley was free of slavery, but not given the full rights of a free woman. On October 18, 1773 she was given this "freedom" as a result of her popularity and influence as a poet.

In 1775, she published a poem celebrating George Washington entitled, “To his Excellency General Washington.” In 1776, Washington invited Wheatley to his home as thanks for the poem. Wheatley was a supporter of the American Revolution, but the war hurt the publication of her poetry because readers were swept up in the war and seemingly uninterested in poetry.

In 1778, Phillis was legally freed when her master John Wheatley died. Three months later, Phillis married John Peters, a free black grocer. Wheatley was unable to publish another volume of her poetry. Wheatley’s husband, John Peters, was imprisoned for debt in 1784, leaving an impoverished Wheatley behind with a sickly infant daughter, Eliza. Wheatley became a scullery maid at a boarding house, forced into domestic labor that she had avoided earlier in life while enslaved. Wheatley died alone on December 5, 1784, at age 31.

Phillis Wheatley, like most authors, wrote about what she knew or experienced. She believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable.

Reviews

[samiha · Rating 4 out of 5]

only had enough time to read a couple of her poetry, which is really passionate and inspiring. will definitely have to read some more if i have time.

[josieisle02 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of poetry. The history of Phillis Wheatley is incredible, the fact that she wrote most of these poems at age 14 and had to go through trials given by white men to prove that she had actually written them is astonishing. The way she writes about slavery is unique and gives an insight into her life as a slave, her thoughts on those who enslaved her, and the experiences she had at such a young age. Everyone should read this - it's shocking that they aren't more widespread and prominent in education, especially since she was the first African American woman to publish poetry.

[Joel Pelanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really beautiful poems in here, and on the whole it's absolutely worth reading. But by the umpteenth "Poem to _____ upon the death of his/her/their daughter/infant son/beloved spouse" my eyes were starting to glaze over a little bit. Still glad I read it, and I can see myself coming back to a number of passages.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just learned about Phillis Wheatley when seeing a sculpture of her at a Women in Art exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum. I was intrigued to read her by the few facts given there - she was enslaved and brought to America as a child. Gained her freedom and became the 1st Black poet and only 2nd women in America to have her poetry published. She lived during Revolutionary war times, and died at age 31. Despite her short life and life as a slave, she mastered the English language and the European/American mindset defining what it is to be human. In her poetry she is not appealing to the fact that she is a woman, former slave, or Black. She writes as a human being living in her particular times and showing she saw herself as human and wanted the people around her to do the same. I'm sure there is greater depth to her poetry than I can appreciate but it struck me as often not being personal but rather establishing her as part of the greater whole going on around her. She didn't try to establish her humanity by identifying with her individualism, rather the opposite - she shows how much she is like the people around her. If being an educated white, male Protestant was the definition of a real human, she shows herself fully human, able to speak and understand the language of this 'humanity'. Those who were stuck on the fact that she was Black, former slave, a woman, were missing the very things she saw as essential to being human.

[lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

"To yon bright regions let your faith ascend,
Prepare to join your dearest infant friend
In pleasures without measure, without end."

I remembered briefly learning about Phillis Wheatley in school, before I ever truly understood what it meant for her to gain such fame and acclaim as a Black woman in her lifetime. So when I spotted this in my local used bookshop, I thought it a prime opportunity to dive into her work as an adult.

I really wanted to love this, and I wish I could say I did, but the repetitive topics of her poems, mostly eulogies, really lost my interest over time. I did not find her style to be particularly groundbreaking, apparently a common complaint which is addressed in some of the supplementary material, but she does write with a clear passion which I found compelling in some instances.

I'd like to go back to some of this armed with more scholarly context and perhaps with more of a scholarly mindset, but for now, I think I'll have to stick with three stars.

[Saarem · Rating 2 out of 5]

commendable cultural impact, lackluster poetry

[Mrs. C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today's editors of American literature textbooks for high school students try to present Phillis Wheatley as a feminist voice of an American revolutionary. She may have been those things, but first and foremost Ms. Wheatley gives all the glory to Jesus Christ. It's sad how things get "edited out" (censored) in today's publishing houses.