The poem is by Phillis Wheatley and is titled “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
This is how the poem reads:
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.
The poem is very special as it has been written by America’s first black woman poet way back in the mid of the eighteenth century when slaves were bought and sold in America. The poet took her owner’s surname and her first name was taken from the name of the ship in which she was brought from Africa to America after being abducted in 1753 when she was only seven years old. The poet had an inclination to learn and started writing poems in English from the age of fourteen. ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ appeared in a collection of poems published in 1773 (Spacey).
Comment on One Literary Device Used in the Poem:
The literary devices that have been used in the poem include Iambic Pentameter, Rhyme and Couplet, Rhythm and Antithesis. (www.poetryfoundation.org).
The poem has eight lines. Each line is a pentameter and makes use of iambs. Pentameter is a poem line of five metrical feet. Iamb is a metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.
Each pair of lines makes a different meaningful rhyme. Rhyme can be defined as the repetition of identical or closely related sounds in the syllables of different words, almost always in concluding syllables at the ends of lines.
These pairs of line are called couplet. A couplet can be defined as two lines that may be unified by rhyme or, in biblical poetry, by content.
When all the rhymed pairs are put together they succinctly express the poet’s entire life’s experiences and view point. The poem has brilliant compression and expression which when read sounds as a rhythm.
Rhythm can be defined as the varying speed, intensity, elevation, pitch, loudness, and expressiveness of speech, especially poetry.
A poem in good rhythm can be given beats and is like music to the ears.
The first pair of lines read as:
Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
Both the lines in the pair end with rhyming words land and understand. In these two lines the poet says so much, that she feels that it was an act of mercy that she was brought from a ‘pagan’ land and due to which her soul was gifted with the ability to understand.
The first couplet uses antithesis in both the lines. Antithesis is using terms or words that have opposing meanings .In the first line the word ‘mercy’ is used as an antithesis to the word ‘Pagan’. In the second line the word ‘benighted’ is used as an antithesis to the word ‘understand’. The use of antithesis words evokes strong currents. In this poem the use of antithesis word appear in a natural flow and are not used deliberately.
The second pair of lines reads as:
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew
The above lines end with rhyming words too and knew. In very few words the rhyme expresses that on being brought to this land the poet came to know of God and savior and redemption which she had earlier not known of.
The third pair of rhyme reads thus:
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
The rhyming words used here are eye and die. In just these two lines the poet expresses that some people views the race to which she belongs in a negative manner and considers their color as diabolic or devilish.
The last rhyming pair reads as:
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
In the above rhyming pair the words cain and train are used. In these two lines the author conveys her viewpoint and very deep meaning that even slaves can become refined and join God’s train of angels if they receive education and a supportive environment.
Works Cited
Glossary of Poetic Terms. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Spacey, Andrew. Analysis of Poem "On Being Brought From Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley, March 2017. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-On-Being-Brought-From-Africa-to-America-by-Phillis-Wheatley. Accessed May 24, 2018.
