Voices and influences
Phillis Wheatley
An enslaved young woman in Boston whose elegy on George Whitefield was printed in 1770 and whose Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral came out in London in 1773.
Summary
This site quotes Phillis Wheatley 4 times across 3 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1753 to 1784, brought from Africa to Boston.
- Quoted here most in Psalms: 2 of 4.
Phillis Wheatley
- Lived
- 1753 to 1784
- Nation
- brought from Africa to Boston
- Tradition
- Congregational, a communicant of the Old South Church in Boston
- Portrait
- None held under a licence this site can print
4 of 4 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Phillis Wheatley died in 1784 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
“I have lately met with a great trial in the death of my mistress; let us imagine the loss of a parent, sister, or brother, the tenderness of all these were united in her.”
Letter to Obour Tanner, Boston, 21 March 1774, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, volume 7
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
I was a poor little outcast & a stranger when she took me in
Psalms 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. BSB
“The friends I found there among the nobility and gentry, their benevolent conduct towards me, the unexpected and unmerited civility and complaisance with which I was treated by all, fills me with astonishment.”
Letter to Obour Tanner, Boston, 30 October 1773, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, volume 7
Undated in the archive this site cites.
Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— BSB
“Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung”
To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
Undated in the archive this site cites.
Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. BSB
“'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.’”
On being brought from Africa to America, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
Revelation 5:9–10 And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Phillis Wheatley 4 times across 3 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
An enslaved young woman in Boston whose elegy on George Whitefield was printed in 1770 and whose Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral came out in London in 1773.
4 quotations across 3 books