Product Description
Poems on various subjects, religious and moral is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Phillis Wheatley is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Phillis Wheatley then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1761, a young girl arrived in Boston on a slave ship, sold to the Wheatley family, and given the name Phillis Wheatley. Struck by Phillis' extraordinary precociousness, the Wheatleys provided her with an education that was unusual for a woman of the time and astonishing for a slave. After studying English and classical literature, geography, the Bible, and Latin, Phillis published her first poem in 1767 at the age of 14, winning much public attention and considerable fame. When Boston publishers who doubted its authenticity rejected an initial collection of her poetry, Wheatley sailed to London in 1773 and found a publisher there for Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

This volume collects both Wheatley's letters and her poetry: hymns, elegies, translations, philosophical poems, tales, and epyllions-including a poignant plea to the Earl of Dartmouth urging freedom for America and comparing the country's condition to her own. With her contemplative elegies and her use of the poetic imagination to escape an unsatisfactory world, Wheatley anticipated the Romantic Movement of the following century. The appendices to this edition include poems of Wheatley's contemporary African-American poets: Lucy Terry, Jupiter Harmon, and Francis Williams. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A vital foremother of African-American literature
"Complete Writings" brings together a rich collection of the work of Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784). The book has been edited by Vincent Carretta, who also provides an introduction and notes. Wheatley, a Black African-born woman, was taken from her homeland as a child and sold into slavery in the United States. Her owners provided her with an excellent education, and she became a poet: indeed, a foremother of African-American poetry.

This volume contains Wheatley's poems, including the contents of her historic collection "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" (1773).The book also contains more than 20 of her letters, thus allowing readers to appreciate her prose style. As appendixes, the book also contains the writings of three other pioneering New World poets of African heritage: Lucy Terry Prince (c. 1730-1821), Jupiter Hammon (1711-c. 1806), and Francis Williams (c. 1700-c. 1770). Seeing the works of these Black poets helps one to read Wheatley's work in a larger context.

Yes, one could say that some of Wheatley's work is derivative and repetitive. But the best of her poetry is truly extraordinary: technically impressive, moving, and thought-provoking. Much of her work is animated by her fervent evangelical Christian beliefs. But particularly significant are those poems that articulate an African or African-American consciousness. The most noteworthy of her poems invite careful re-reading. And the collection of her letters creates a fascinating portrait of a young African-American woman striving to create a career for herself as a literary artist in the 18th century. This book is essential for those with a serious interest in U.S. history and literature, as well as for those with an interest in African Diaspora studies. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

I love it...well written
When, I started reading this book..I was captivated by the power it held.As a parent I encourage mychildren to read this book.I would recommend this book as a family book, if you are teaching your children about Black History...and the power to be Free.LuzD ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
"Lasky shows not only the facts of Wheatley's life but also the pain of being an accomplished black woman in a segregated world." — BOOKLIST

"We’ll call her Phillis."

In 1761, a young African girl was sold to the Wheatley family in Boston, who named her Phillis after the slave schooner that had carried her. Kidnapped from her home in Africa and shipped to America, she’d had everything taken from her - her family, her name, and her language.

But Phillis Wheatley was no ordinary young girl. She had a passion to learn, and the Wheatleys encouraged her, breaking with unwritten rule in New England to keep slaves illiterate. Amid the tumult of the Revolutionary War, Phillis Wheatley became a poet and ultimately had a book of verse published, establishing herself as the first African American woman poet this country had ever known. She also found what had been taken away from her and from slaves everywhere: a voice of her own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children
Born in Africa and sold into slavery at the age of seven, Phillis Wheatley worked as a servant for a family in Boston who believed, unlike most white people at the time, that slaves were fully capable of learning to read, write, and master the arts.Within just a few years Phillis was fully literate in English and had moved on to math, geography, and the classics.Her greatest love and talent lay in poetry, and as an adolescent Phillis was already reciting verses in society circles and publishing her own work. In the face of extreme discrimination, Phillis grew up to become the first African American published poet and the first African American woman to publish her writing.

Rich illustrations and clear text bring Phillis Wheatley's story to life and help to make her biographical account accessible to younger readers.The narrative also touches on some of the economic aspects of slavery and reasons why whites were unwilling to empower slaves with educations, making the book a valuable resource for educating children about the history of slavery and the importance of social justice. ... Read more

Product Description
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.^L

Oxford University Pr ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Authentic
The text is Phillis Wheatley's original poetry ,spelling preserved and all! I searched all over to find the famous poet's actual words and here they are. If you are researching Phillis this is a must-read.
... Read more

Product Description
A moving celebration of the mother of African Americanliterature, from the pen of a master storyteller and scholar.

The slave Phillis Wheatley literally wrote her way to freedom when, in1773, she became the first person of African descent to publish a bookof poems in the English language. The toast of London, lauded byEuropeans as diverse as Voltaire and Gibbon, Wheatley was for a timethe most famous black woman in the West. Though Benjamin Franklinreceived her and George Washington thanked her for poems she dedicatedto him, Thomas Jefferson refused to acknowledge her gifts. "Religion,indeed, has produced a Phillis Wheatley," he wrote, "but it could notproduce a poet." In other words, slaves have misery in their lives,and they have souls, but they lack the intellectual and aestheticendowments required to create literature.

In this book based on his 2002 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities atthe Library of Congress, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., explores the pivotalroles that Wheatley and Jefferson have played in shaping the blackliterary tradition.

He brings to life the characters and debates that fermented aroundWheatley in her day and illustrates the peculiar history that resultedin Thomas Jefferson's being lauded as a father of the black freedomstruggle and Phillis Wheatley's vilification as something of an UncleTom. It is a story told with all the lyricism and critical skill thathave placed Gates at the forefront of American letters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Trials of Phillis Wheatley
Can you believe the good gentlemen of Boston in the 18 the century put Phillis Wheatley on trail to prove that she wrote 12 poems? Shocking as it may seem, the story is true.In Henry Louis Gates' powerful small book he gives an account of the events.In addition, the book provides new insight to the African American poet. For example, Phillis Wealthy arrived in this country as slave at the age of 7, probably only speaking Wolof from the Senegambian coast.Yet, after sixteen months, she had mastered the English language.If you want to find out more about this amazing poet, buy this book!!!!!!!!

A Study of A Poetess's Reception through the Centuries
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s _The Trials Phillis Wheatley_ considers Phillis Wheatley's career through the eyes of her readers over two centuries, from elite Massachussetts whites who in 1772 quizzed Wheatley to determine if she, a young slave, had indeed composed the poems herself, to twentieth-century critics who find her voice inauthentic and too forgiving of her white enslavers.Gates' book is a longer version of the prestigious Jefferson Lecture, which he gave in 2002, and is a great introduction to Phillis Wheatley.Wheatley's writing career, in particular her mastery of the classical forms of eighteenth-century English prosody, is fascinating.

Wheatley was kidnapped as a seven-year old from her home in West Africa in 1761, survived the terrible Middle Passage, and then was sold into bondage to the Wheatley family in Massachusetts.Nine years later in 1770, at the age of 16, despite lacking formal schooling and having only nine years exposure to English, she was a published poet.Two years later in 1772 she published a volume of poetry _Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral_, which was the first book of poems published by a person of African origin.

What is so strong about Gates' book is his discussion of the impact of Wheatley's poems and how her mastery of literacy challenged the racist ideology of slaveholders and their supporters.Wheatley corresponded with George Washington and other luminaries, and the international sensation of her poems prompted Thomas Jefferson to critique them as being unoriginal.Gates argues that Jefferson's critique in _Notes on the State of Virginia_, grounded in racism and defensiveness, ironically shaped African American literature in its vibrant, sustained critique of Jefferson's claims by contemporary and later writers, such as David Walker, William Hamilton, William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, and many others.Gates concludes his book by discussing how Wheatley's reputation slowly changed in the nineteenth century, mainly due to interpretations of one poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America."Gates writes that for a number of readers, "the paragon of Negro achievement, was now given a new role: race traitor."

Gates' work presents an excellent, readable overview of Wheatley's career by drawing from the breadth of existing scholarship.He makes a strong argument that Wheatley needs to be read with an awareness of late eighteenth-century history and understood for her vital contribution.

Two criticisms of the book:First, I wish Gates had also published Wheatley's poems, which are expensive to purchase and not widely available in bookstores, and then made his work an introduction to the poems.Second, on a related point, I wish that Gates had interpreted more poems.Wheatley's poems are rich with transcultural underpinnings and insights, and it would have been wonderful to read more of his explications of her work.Her work can be challenging for contemporary readers unfamilar with the conventions of eighteenth-century poetry.

Refreshing Reminder from Gates
Gates' book places the writing life of Phillis Wheatley into a context that should prompt readers to reexamine popular condemnations (past and present) of her credibility and literary merit. This text is a refreshing reminder that we readers have a responsibility "to learn to read Wheatley anew, unblinkered by the anxieties of her time and ours. That's the only way to let Phillis Wheatley take a stand. The challenge isn't to read white, or read black; it is to read. If Wheatley stood for anything, it was the creed that culture was, could be, the equal possession of all humanity. It was a lesson she was swift to teach, and that we have been slow to learn" (89-90). This book is a quick read and would be an ideal text for instructors.

An interesting read
In 1773 a young woman burst onto the literary scene. And what made this particular author a sensation? The young woman in question was Phillis Wheatley, an African slave writing poetry in English. Her slender books of poems was a literary first, causing critics to mutter.

Brought before an panel of eighteen learned gentleman of the time, Phillis Wheatley proved that persons of African descent could think, read and write works of literature. For a few brief years, Phillis was a author known to both the colonies and Europe, think Oprah, think Alice Walker, think Maya Angelou of her day. Sadly, with Revolution at hand, her literary career stumbled with Phillis and her only surviving child dying much too young.

But that was not the end of Phillis Wheatley. Her surviving works have endured and been subjected to levels of awe and loathing in the centuries since her death. In some camps, Phillis Wheatley is a mother of the slave narrative, in others a sell-out, an Aunt Thomasina making her then masters happy.

Author Henry Louis Gates, Jr does a wonderful job of looking at the literary life of a much loved and much reviled author. The only jarring point? The covers of this fine volume are much too close together, THE TRIALS OF PHILLIS WHEATLEY was a quick read and I found myself sad to have the book end.

Nice little tribute to Phillis Wheatley
Mostly a summary of the literary career of Phillis Wheatley, a teenaged slave, born in Africa and later bought by John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston for less than ten pounds, who would unknowingly kickstart the African American literary tradition with her "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral," published in 1773.Described by Gates as "the Oprah Winfrey of her time," Wheatley defied the conventional racist wisdom of the time by proving that people of African descent could write poetry and produce European notions of Art.Gates does a good job of tracing the trajectory of her work throughout the years following her sad demise (her poetry would grant her manumission, but she would die free, poor and alone at the age of thirty).Gates' main critique in the book is of the unfair criticism he feels critics of the Black Power Movement gave her, by questioning her "authenticity" and accusing her of being "too white."He ties this in to Thomas Jefferson's criticisms of Wheatley some two-hundred years earlier, who dismissed her poetry as bad enough to prove that Africans indeed were inferior to Anglos in the arena of "reason."Citing a recent poll suggesting that "acting white" was aligned with "speaking standard English, getting straight A's, or even visiting the Smithsonian," Gates uses a bizarre logic to make his ultimate point: "In reviving the ideology of 'authenticity'--especially in a Hip Hop world where too many of our children think it's easier to become Michael Jordan than Vernon Jordan--we have ourselves reforged the manacles of an earlier, admittedly racist era" (p. 84-5).Whether one views Jefferson's or even Amiri Baraka's criticisms of Wheatley's poetry as remotely similar, Gates' little book does a tidy little job of setting up for the reader the historical processes and miracles that allowed for Wheatley to publish the poems (--good or bad--it's up to you to decide!) that initiated the African American literary tradition. ... Read more

Product Description
Follows the life of one of America's first black poets from her sale as a child slave on the Boston auction block to her death as an impoverished freedwoman in 1784. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous author!I am looking forward to her book on Stanton
This is a wonderful book on such an important woman in history. I recommend this book for the classroom, libraries, and to have at home. She is a wonderful author who makes you feel connected to these historical icons. I am going to buy her other books as soon as I finish this review. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Published by Geo. W. LightPublication date: 1834Subjects: Biography ... Read more

Product Description
Traces the life of the black American poet who was born in Africa, brought over to New England as a slave, and published her first poem while still a teenager. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (61)

Great historical piece.
What a wonderful library find I found! I never knew who she was, but what an awesome story. I thought a lot though, I do believe the Wheatleys only took her as far as they wanted, for their pleasure and not for her's. Maybe Mrs. Wheatley and her husband but I do believe Nathaniel did use her for his own purposes. I wonder if he had feelings for her as well and knew better than to say or act.

I read the author tried to stay as close to her story as possible. That makes it really wonderful and heartbreaking to read about her accounts on the ship. I already have some others that this author wrote on my list.

Great Historical Novel
I found this historical novel of Phillis Wheatley's life as a young African slave girl to be inspirational and moving. The book takes you back to a time in history much different than the way we live and treat each other today. As a young girl, Phillis is taken from her home country, Senegal, and brought to America in 1761. Her life is based on her position as a black woman in a white man's world, which brings her to live a unique and groundbreaking life.

The story takes place in Boston where the prominent Wheatley family purchases her.The oldest son, Nathaniel, teaches her to read and write without regard to the law against it.When the Wheatleys discover her talent for writing poetry, they seek a way to get her work published. They are unable to find an American publisher that was bold enough to publish an African women's poetry. Driven to get her work published, Nathaniel and Phillis continue their efforts in Europe where Phillis becomes the first African women to be published.

Rinaldi follows an intense path in describing the daily situations Phillis encounters. The reader becomes close to the character as they sympathize to her feelings. You are able to connect and relate with her struggles throughout the plot line because it is told in first person narrative.

Although she has success, Phillis struggled with her status as a slave. She has to prove herself as an African slave woman when others did not believe that she could write poetry. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading a journey to learn of the strugglesof others. I also recommend it to people that enjoy reading books that relate to important times in history because it takes place right before the American Revolution. This novel helps you realize that the impossible is possible and that any struggle can be overcome no matter how great. Overall, it is a great book that everyone should read and will enjoy. I give it four and a half out of five stars.
Hillary, age 17

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons
I found this book very interesting. I liked the way that Rinaldi gave us a real taste of Phillis Wheatley. I often feel like you are never able to understand much about historic figures except for the boring facts. Rinaldi does an amazing job of weaving together a story that is fun and amazingly close to reality. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was the fact that the story seemed very long at times. Almost as if Rinaldi was just trying to make the story as long as possible. With that exception, I would happily recommend this book to adults and children.

Lovely Piece of Work
There are certain historical figures who dominate the spotlight--how many novels have been written about Shakespeare, for example? And then there are those figures who exist in the general memory, but vaguely, without any spark of energy. Phyllis Wheatley is one of those people.

You'd think there would be more attention given to the first black woman to publish original poetry, but I've not seen any other novels besides Ann Rinaldi's. However, when you have "Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons," you really don't need anything else.

I've always wanted to write an intense novel about Emily Dickinson, and the way Rinaldi handles Phyllis's story is exactly how I would love to treat Dickinson's. Her writing is superb, just right for historical fiction of this type. She does a wonderful job putting flesh on a woman that no one knows very much about.

I was rather disappointed with her opinion of Phyllis's poetry, however. Only a few lines are included in the novel, and Rinaldi's endnote excuses this by saying Phyllis wrote in the style of her day, which was so overdone and flowery that no modern reader would enjoy it. Isn't that sort of shooting yourself in the foot? Rinaldi breathes life into a forgotten heroine, and then dismisses the very accomplishments that brought her distinction. I thought that was rather odd, but since it's in the author's note, and not in the text itself, it shouldn't affect your enjoyment of the story.

Your freedom is taken for granted, mine is elusive
"Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley" is a fine fictionalized account of America's first black poet. The significance of this label is that Phillis was a "slave." Her poetry is reminiscent of that of any white male poet of the age--complex structure, fine vocabulary, literary allusions reflecting classical education, and obvious symbolism. Her subjects were often historical. In fact, because she wrote a poem about George Washington, the Fox-Hunter, as he was called, she was invited to meet him and have tea.

But I write of the ending before the beginning. Keziah was born in Senegal and taken by slave traders when she was seven years old. Taken along with her were her mother and best friend. Her mother was thrown overboard during this Middle Passage, about which Phillis never wished to speak.

An African's fortunes in the new world lay in the character and intent of the "master" who paid the price. Keziah was bought by the Wheatleys, very kind people who lived Christian lives. She was named Phillis after the name of the ship that brought her to America. A teenager at the time, Nathaniel, the older Wheatley child, taught Phillis to read and write, and in point, provided her with a classic education, including both Greek and Latin.

When Phillis wrote her first poem, Nathaniel, then the other family members, made such a to-do that Phillis was removed from the servant's life into one of almost a member of the family. It was this combination of praise, special treatment, and reminders by society at large that she was still a slave and not her own free person.

Freedom--therein lies the crux of the story behind Phillis' amazing success. Her quiet striving to become legally and morally free was her motivation. Ann Rinaldi does an amazing job in telling the triumphant story of Phillis' life as an American, who not only published poetry but met such illuminaries as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

Quite frankly, this story is a page-turner. I have had this book for several years but did not wish to read it. However, I wanted to do something personal for Black History Month and chose this book to read. Glad I am because the story is truly interesting, Phillis is truly a life reflective of what Africans could accomplish given a white education. If only the course of history had been different and the slaves given their freedom along with the freedom of a new world. If... The lack of fulfilling that "if" is treated during the Civil War.

Rinaldi's ending was displeasing initially. After reading the afterword, I thought how clever and kind of Rinaldi to end the book the way she does. Phillis is still hopeful about her possibilities. In the Afterword, Rinaldi reveals the rest of the story, one that is unpleasant and disappointing, but basically one over which Phillis had little control, considering her previous life. But, ah, what a life she had, even as a slave! This book is highly recommended.

Addendum: There is no poetry in this young adult historical fiction. I am familiar with Phillis' poetry because I taught American Literature at the high school level for many years. Two of her poems were included in our anthology. ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines how the early American poets Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley gained agency within a traditionally patriarchal field of literary production during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This study provides new conceptions of early American women's writing that are valuable to feminist inquiry. ... Read more

Product Description