Summary:
The formal poem "To His Excellency, General Washington" by Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved African whose Native language was of Africa not America, was sent to George Washington during the Revolutionary War (April 19 1775-April 11, 1783) in October of 1775. The poem is broken up into 5 stanzas.
First, the beginning stanza includes lines one through eight and mentions that Heaven is looking at the people of America. Phillis Wheatley writes of "Columbia's scenes of glorious toils" (Wheatley 2). This describes the toils, or situation that the people are trapped in. During the Revolution, the American people are troubled by "freedom's cause," which refers to the war and that America is fighting for freedom (Wheatley 3). Wheatley personifies
…show more content…
The Muse, or Goddess in this case is Erato, who is known to inspire poets. Wheatley relates the words she writes to "armies through a thousand gates [and] Eolus heaven's fair face" (Wheatley 14-15). She uses the Greek God of the winds Eolus as a comparison to her words in order to show the power these words hold. The poet continues to bring power to her words by comparing them to "surges [beating] the sounding shore" and "autumn’s golden reign" (Wheatley 18-19). Wheatley shows that nobody can deny the power of her words, just as nobody can deny water hitting the shores or the colors of autumn. In lines twenty-three through twenty-eight Wheatley recites the praises that he has heard men say of General Washington. She mentions that he is honorable and his behavior showing high morals are known far and wide.
Next, stanza four involves the historical fact "Gallic powers Columbia's fury found," which refers to the French and Indian war (1754-1763) (Wheatley 30). This is a continuation of praising General Washington, who led the colonists and defeated the French and as a result ended the French colonial empire in North America (762). The poet describes America as "the land of freedom's heaven-defended race" (Wheatley 32). This shows that Wheatley
…show more content…
This is evidenced by Wheatley using a positive connotation when creating an image of war in the line “in bright array they seek the work of war” (Wheatley 21). The word bright is not seen as a negative word. Wheatley is making war seem like a positive issue, which was true because the Revolutionary War was fought for freedom from oppression. This leads one to the theme of the poem, which is freedom. Wheatley urges General Washington to continue to fight for America’s freedom, and also uses symbolism to portray her theme. Peace and victory are both a part of freedom. These are symbolized upon the unnamed Goddess in the second stanza, who wears olive, which symbolizes peace, and laurel, which symbolizes victory, in her hair. After close observation, one can see that the Goddess mentioned is the Goddess Liberty. There are many portrayals of the Goddess Liberty, but the poet mentions Britannia, which is Great Britain’s portrayal of the Goddess, originating from Roman Britain in the second century BCE. This shows even Great Britain’s own Goddess was not on its side and was on the side of America according to the poet. Wheatley essentially says that it is God’s grace that America will become free, which is evidenced by her stating that the Goddess will guide America to
When picking an author that is the “epitome of what it means to be an American,” one author in particular stands out to me every time, and it is an author who is probably not considered by many to be an “American” author. Her name is Phillis Wheatley. Through her writings, Wheatley expresses her patriotism and overall respect for life in America, gaining her recognition by critics and fans alike, and a major spot in the topic of American Literature. Within my essay, I aim to prove how Wheatley deserves the title of being labeled an American, and how she embodies the topic of what it means to be an American.
As the poem starts out, Wheatley describes being taken from her “native shore” to “the land of errors.” Her native shore was the western coast of Africa, and she was taken to the “land of errors” which represents America. America is seen in her eyes as the land of errors because of slavery. Wheatley is acknowledging right off the bat that slavery is wrong. Wheatley then goes on and references the “Egyptian gloom” which is italicized. The italicization forces the readers to focus and reflect on “Egyptian” and it’s possible
If the soldiers who fought in the American Revolution were alive today to see what our nation has accomplished, they would cry tears of joy. These people defined their freedom as having an independent country where everyone would reunite and live under a set of laws where they all have equal rights. The novel, 1776, emphasizes the emotions that Americans had when the Declaration of Independence was signed through the following lines, “The year 1776, celebrated as the birth of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never for...
Washington, G. (1790). George washington's letter to the hebrew congregation of newport. Retrieved from http://www.tourosynagogue.org/index.php/history-learning/tsf-intro-menu/slom-scholarship/86-washington-letter
In line 6, the speaker requests that “America be the dream the dreamers dreamed” (Hughes). This sing-songy style coupled with the repetition of the word “dream” underlines the importance of the message of the poem by reiterating the point the author wishes to make: Americans wish America truly was the place where man can seek his fortune. Hughes also plays with rhyme: throughout the poem, the lines often end with an “ee” sound, though no formal structure is employed. The speaker states that America is a place where man is “seeking a home where he himself is free/(America never was America to me)” (Hughes 4-5), and at the end of the poem, the speaker repeats “America never was America to me” shortly followed by “America will be!” (Hughes 92-94). This repetition of rhyme highlights the speaker’s hope that he, along with his fellow countrymen, will one day be free. Hughes’s belief of a better tomorrow is demonstrated in this
Both the painting and the poem show the courage and compassion of Washington. He is a strong leader who will not give up on what he believes in. The soldiers with Washington all look discouraged, but he is not letting them go back. In the painting, he has his head up not looking discouraged (Leutze George Washington Crossing the Delaware).
He lampoons the patriotic fools of America, particularly soldiers, making them sound rash and illogical, being people who just desire to fight for something to scream and yell for something, justifying their actions by saying it was “for America”, claiming “liberty is an endless war”. Saying “why talk of beauty what could be more beaut/iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter” (Cummings, 9-11), illustrates America’s love for a fight, a war, no matter how paramount or trivial, no matter how nonsensical and futile the cause. E.E. Cummings questions America if there is anything more beautiful than people dying mindlessly for America: even
I feel that if the people back in her time read the poem could understand and relate to the poem. In this poem Gwendolyn used some good metaphors showing her skills as ta writer. She used a very clever metaphor in the first stanza to catch the reader’s attention. She used the
...e gun, it seemed, the greater the owner‘s pride in it.” (McCullough 33) The Continental army certainly did not look like an army yet these people were brought together in this fight for freedom and prevailed even winning the support of Americans who had no hope the British would be defeated.” Merchant Erving had sided with the Loyalists primarily because he thought the rebellion would fail. But the success of Washington‘s army at Boston had changed his mind as it had for many” (McCullough 108). The reader must comprehend the power of this accomplishment for the rag-tag army. “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning-how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference- the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” (McCullough 294).
As Gilroy wrote: "The history of the black Atlantic since then, continually crisscrossed by the movement of black people--not only as commodities--but engaged in various struggles towards emancipation, autonomy, and citizenship, is a means to re-examine the problems of nationality, location, identity, and historical memory." The poem by Phillis Wheatley greatly enlightens Gilroy’s thesis, being a strong figure in the fight for freedom and equality within the Black community, also emphasizing the idea that knowledge is power to those Black people who were unable to read and write, seeing the impact she made through her poems. England, unlike the United States, gave Black intellectuals the opportunity to publish their writings. The poem by Phillis Wheatley greatly enlightens Gilroy’s thesis, being a strong figure in the fight for freedom and equality within the Black community, also emphasizing the idea that knowledge is power to those Black people who were unable to read and write, seeing the impact she made through her
Griffith’s painting gives me a warm feeling of remembrance from seeing all of the characters. They’ve all been seen as people to define the way America is. Each of our iconic poster boys siding with America against what is portrayed as wrong. Griffith uses the Battle of Yorktown as a template to showcase the people we side with and are against in modern times.
Moving forward in stanza one, Ginsberg says he knows what he’s doing. In line twenty-five he uses imagery when saying, “Plum blossoms are falling” (Ginsberg). When plum blossoms fall, it usually means that the beauty of spring is over. Ginsberg feels here that the idea of a wonderful America is fading. No doubt, America is full of violence and that is what seems to be overtaking line twenty-six. Therefore, the speaker continues to tell America that he has sympathy for labors and that he is not sorry that he was a communist.
Along with the imagery we get from the title, there is a lot of imagery within this poem. Let us start with the first three lines:
The third stanza is a second and different refrain. This refrain occurs in every other stanza. It acts as a divider between the stanzas dealing with a specific character. In the fourth stanza, Father McKenzie is introduced to the reader. He is described as a materialistic man whose life has no meaning.
This is part of the opening verse of the poem and it shows us how fair