“Phillis Wheatley was born around the year 1753 in West Africa. When she was seven or eight years old, she was forced to endure the Middle Passage, and when she arrived in Boston, she was sold to John and Susanna Wheatley. They named her Phillis after the ship that brought her from Africa.
Phillis was a brilliant child, and her owners encouraged her to learn to read and write. Phillis proved to be a very talented poet. John and Susanna were proud of her work, and they began publishing it in newspapers in 1767. These early works made her the first African woman published in the colonies. But even as Phillis’s fame grew, she was still enslaved (a slave). Her owners and readers loved her work, but they still viewed (looked at) her as property.”
“By 1772, Phillis had enough poems to make a book, but she could not find an American publisher for it. So, the Wheatleys sent Phillis to London with their son to find a publisher, and in 1773, her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, made its debut. It was widely praised (honored).
Publishing a book was not the only thing Phillis accomplished in London. In England, there was a law that no slave owner who brought an enslaved person to England could force them to return to the colonies. Phillis used this law to negotiate (work out) with the Wheatleys and gain her freedom.
Phillis Wheatley lived the rest of her life in Boston, where she continued to write poetry. Her works are unique in the way they blend support for the American Revolution with admonishments (feelings) against the practice of slavery. She died suddenly in 1784, before she was able to publish a second book of poetry.”

The poem: “Permit (Allow), great power, while yet my fleeting breath
And Spirits wander to the verge of Death—
Permit me yet to point fair freedom's charms
For her the Continent shines bright in arms,
By thy high will, celestial prize she came—
For her we combat on the field of fame
…
But how, presumptuous shall we hope to find
Divine acceptance with th' Almighty mind—
While yet (O deed Ungenerous!) they disgrace
And hold in bondage Afric's blameless race?
Let Virtue reign—And thou accord our prayers
Be victory our's, and generous freedom theirs.”

QUESTIONS
1. What did you find most interesting about Phillis Wheatley’s life?

2. What is she saying in her poem?