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Excerpt ​

Excerpt from Poems on various subjects, religious and moral, by Phillis Wheatley

CONTENTS.

To Maecenas
On Virtue
To the University of Cambridge, in New England
To the King's Most Excellent Majesty
On being brought from Africa
On the Rev. Dr. Sewell
On the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield
On the Death of a young Lady of five Years of Age
On the Death of a young Gentleman
To a Lady on the Death of her Husband
Goliath of Gath
Thoughts on the Works of Providence
To a Lady on the Death of three Relations
To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady
An Hymn to the Morning
An Hymn to the Evening
On Isaiah lxiii. 1-8
On Recollection
On Imagination
A Funeral Poem on the Death of an Infant aged twelve Months
To Captain H. D. of the 65th Regiment
To the Right Hon. William, Earl of Dartmouth
Ode to Neptune
To a Lady on her coming to North America with
her Son, for the Recovery of her Health
To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in a
Hurricane in North Carolina
To a Lady and her Children on the Death of the Lady's Brother
and Sister, and a Child of the Name
of Avis, aged one Year
On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall,
To a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain,
for the Recovery of his Health
To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory on reading his Sermons
on Daily Devotion, in which that Duty is
recommended and assisted
On the Death of J. C. an Infant
An Hymn to Humanity
To the Hon. T. H. Esq; on the Death of his Daughter
Niobe in Distress for her Children slain by Apollo,
from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book VI, and from a View
of the Painting of Mr. Richard Wilson

To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing his Works
To his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor,
on the Death of his Lady
A Farewel to America
A Rebus by I. B.
An Answer to ditto, by Phillis Wheatley

Explanation ​

Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) is a landmark work in early American literature, not only as the first published book of poetry by an African American woman but also as a profound engagement with Enlightenment thought, Christian theology, and the paradoxes of slavery and freedom. The table of contents alone—though often overlooked as mere paratext—reveals critical insights into Wheatley’s literary project, her audience, and the themes that preoccupied her. Below is a detailed analysis of the excerpt (the contents page) from a text-centered perspective, exploring its structure, implications, and the ways it frames Wheatley’s poetic voice.

1. Context of the Source ​

  • Author & Historical Context: Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753–1784) was enslaved as a child and brought to Boston in 1761. Educated by her enslavers, the Wheatleys, she became a prodigious poet, publishing her collection in London after facing skepticism in America about her authorship (leading to a public examination by Boston luminaries to "prove" she wrote the poems).
  • Publication Significance: The 1773 volume was groundbreaking, challenging racial and gendered assumptions about intellectual capacity. The contents page acts as a manifestation of Wheatley’s agency, curating her themes and addressees to assert her place in transatlantic literary circles.

2. Themes Revealed in the Contents ​

The titles in the table of contents map Wheatley’s central preoccupations:

A. Religion and Morality ​

  • Nearly half the poems engage explicitly with Christian themes: hymns ("An Hymn to the Morning," "An Hymn to the Evening"), meditations on death ("On the Death of a young Lady," "A Funeral Poem"), and biblical allusions ("On Isaiah lxiii. 1-8," "Goliath of Gath").
    • Significance: Wheatley uses Christianity to claim spiritual equality (e.g., "On being brought from Africa" argues that salvation erases racial hierarchies). The frequency of elegies also reflects the Puritan tradition of memento mori, but Wheatley often subverts it by centering Black or marginalized subjects.
    • Example: "On the Death of J. C. an Infant"—a common 18th-century genre (infant elegy)—becomes a vehicle for Wheatley to assert that innocence transcends race.

B. Slavery and Freedom ​

  • "On being brought from Africa" is the most overtly autobiographical title, but slavery’s shadow looms over others:
    • "To Maecenas": Invokes the Roman patron of the arts, positioning Wheatley in a classical tradition while implicitly critiquing her lack of freedom (she dedicates poems to white patrons who could emancipate her but don’t).
    • "To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty": A loyalist poem to George III, written during the Revolutionary era. Wheatley’s address to power is strategically ambiguous—does she seek liberation through monarchy or critique colonial hypocrisy?
    • "A Farewel to America": Written as she prepared to leave for England, this title hints at physical and metaphorical escape.

C. Race and Representation ​

  • "To S. M. a young African Painter": Addressed to Scipio Moorhead, an enslaved artist, this poem celebrates Black creativity. The contents page centers Black subjects (e.g., the African painter, herself) in a white-dominated literary world.
  • "Niobe in Distress": A classical myth (from Ovid) about a mother’s grief, but Wheatley’s choice to engage with it links Black suffering to universal themes, elevating her voice beyond the "exotic" or "primitive" stereotypes.

D. Gender and Loss ​

  • Elegies for women and children dominate ("To a Lady on the Death of her Husband," "To a Lady on the Death of three Relations"). Wheatley often writes as a comforter in grief, a role that aligns with 18th-century feminine ideals but also grants her authority as a spiritual guide.
  • "To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady": Here, Wheatley inverts power dynamics by consoling a white male authority figure, asserting her moral and poetic superiority.

E. Transatlantic Connections ​

  • Poems to "the University of Cambridge", "Neptune", and "a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain" reflect Wheatley’s cosmopolitanism. She engages with Enlightenment ideals (reason, education) while navigating the colonial networks that both oppress and enable her.

3. Literary Devices and Structural Choices ​

A. Classical and Biblical Allusions ​

  • Titles like "Goliath of Gath" and "Niobe in Distress" signal Wheatley’s erudition, placing her in dialogue with Homer, Ovid, and the Bible. This was a deliberate strategy to counter racist claims that Africans were incapable of high culture.
  • "To Maecenas": The opening poem’s title invokes patronage, framing the entire collection as a bid for literary sponsorship (and, implicitly, freedom).

B. Epistolary Form ​

  • Many poems are addressed to specific individuals (e.g., "To the Right Hon. William, Earl of Dartmouth"). This:
    • Personalizes her appeal for abolition or support.
    • Mimics the neoclassical tradition of poetic epistles (e.g., Pope’s Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot).
    • Creates a network of influence, as the addressees were often powerful figures who could aid her cause.

C. Juxtaposition of Themes ​

  • The contents page oscillates between public and private, sacred and secular:
    • A hymn to "Humanity" follows a poem on "Dr. Samuel Marshall"—suggesting that individual virtue and universal ideals are intertwined.
    • "A Rebus by I. B." (a puzzle poem) and "An Answer to ditto" show Wheatley’s playfulness and intellectual agility, countering stereotypes of Black seriousness.

D. Elegy as a Dominant Mode ​

  • Over one-third of the poems are elegies, reflecting:
    • The 18th-century cultural obsession with death (influenced by Puritanism and the ars moriendi tradition).
    • Wheatley’s unique position as a Black woman writing about loss—her elegies often carry double meanings, mourning both the deceased and the living who are enslaved.

4. Significance of the Contents Page ​

A. A Curated Identity ​

  • The table of contents is not neutral—it’s a performance of Wheatley’s identity. By listing poems to kings, universities, and clergymen alongside personal elegies, she presents herself as:
    • A learned poet (classical/mythological references).
    • A devout Christian (hymns, biblical poems).
    • A social commentator (addressing slavery, race, and power).
  • This strategic ordering counters the era’s racial science, which denied Black people complexity.

B. Subversion and Ambiguity ​

  • Wheatley’s titles often mask radical ideas in conventional forms. For example:
    • "On being brought from Africa" sounds like a conversion narrative but critiques slavery ("Once I redemption neither sought nor knew").
    • "To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty" appears loyalist but questions who truly deserves liberty.
  • The contents page thus hints at resistance beneath the surface of "polite" poetry.

C. The Politics of Publication ​

  • The collection was published in London, not Boston, after Wheatley failed to find a colonial publisher. The contents page’s diverse addressees (British, American, African) reflect her transatlantic ambitions and the limits of American "freedom."
  • The inclusion of "A Rebus" (a word puzzle) and its "Answer" suggests Wheatley’s engagement with oral and print cultures, bridging African and European traditions.

5. Key Takeaways from the Text Itself ​

  1. Agency in Constraint: Wheatley’s enslavement forced her to write within strict generic conventions (elegies, hymns, odes), but she repurposes them to center Black voices and critique power.
  2. The Personal as Political: Even "apolitical" poems (e.g., "On Imagination") become acts of resistance when written by an enslaved woman.
  3. Intertextuality: The contents page is a web of allusions—to the Bible, Ovid, Milton, and contemporary figures—positioning Wheatley in a canon she was excluded from.
  4. Silence and Absence: Notably, slavery is rarely named directly in the titles (except "On being brought from Africa"). This reflects the unspeakability of her condition and the need for indirect critique.

Conclusion: The Contents as a Microcosm ​

The table of contents of Poems on Various Subjects is more than a list—it’s a manifesto. It reveals Wheatley’s strategic brilliance in navigating a world that sought to erase her, her theological and philosophical depth, and her unwavering claim to literary authority. By analyzing the titles alone, we see how she:

  • Performs respectability to gain a hearing.
  • Subverts expectations to insert Black humanity into Enlightenment discourse.
  • Creates a legacy that forces readers to confront the contradictions of a nation built on both liberty and slavery.

In this way, the contents page is not just a prelude to the poems but a poem in itself—one that maps the terrain of Wheatley’s genius and the boundaries she had to transcend.