Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral brings Phillis Wheatley’s approach to poetry into clear focus first published in 1773. This groundbreaking work made Wheatley the first published African-American woman poet in America. Unable to find a publisher in the American colonies due to widespread beliefs about racial inferiority, Wheatley turned to London. Before publication, she faced an extraordinary examination by eighteen prominent Boston figures, including John Hancock, who attested that an enslaved woman could indeed write poetry. Her collection arrived in Boston aboard the Dartmouth, miraculously surviving the Tea Party protests. By returning to American poetry and American poetry -- African American authors, the work links personal experience with wider social, moral, or imaginative concerns. Phillis Wheatley relies on a compressed, musical style in which rhythm, image, and sound shape meaning, allowing mood and structure to carry as much meaning as subject matter. At roughly 14,721 words with a fairly easy reading profile, it offers a reading commitment that is easy to judge before beginning while still leaving room for close attention. Beyond its immediate story or argument, the book matters for its contribution to poetic tradition and its invitation to reread slowly. The result is a book that rewards readers who enjoy compressed, musical style in which rhythm, image, and sound shape meaning while leaving.