Gustavo Quintero
English 48A
October 18, 2007
Journal #15 Phillis Wheatley

Quote:
"While an intrinsic ardor prompts to write,
The muses promise to assist my pen;"(Wheatley 755)

Summary:
The above quote is a traditional way of starting of a poem in Wheatleys time. She is telling the audience at Harvard that God speaks through her. She has not thought of the words that are on the paper she has merely being used as a vessel by which God speaks through.


Response:
As with her previous poems Wheatley manages to say a very bold statement in her poem. At the time of this poem Harvard was a very religious based college. It had founded its doors on the principles of Christianity. For a young black female writer, speaking at Harvard is a highpoint in her life worthy of praise. Not only is Wheatley able to succeed in a white environment but she is able to speak out against the sin of slavery. She makes her statement even more important by saying that God is using her as a voice to spread the word of God. This has an enormous impact on the strength and meaning of her words. It elevates her words to a pedestal where they reach an importance that no other black writer could dream of.
Wheatley is on a crusade to stop slavery. Her mastery of the English language helps her spread the word as eloquently as any writer before. She speaks to the young minds
of the Harvard students and informs them of the perils of slavery. Slavery is a sin that will eat away at their morality and soul. Thomas Jefferson later confessed in private letters about the anguish that he was consumed with as a result of being a supporter of slavery. Wheatley is trying to warn these impressionable young minds so that they to are no consumed by this evil sin. Wheatley uses the Christian faith as a tool to make the slavery supporters feel guilty about their position on slavery. She points out the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners. Wheatley was once to a slave but was fortunate enough to be brought into a caring household. This caring and nurturer's environment help feed Wheatley's intellect and helps her find her voice. The voice she finally does find serves as a tool for God's message to be heard.