Sunday, June 5, 2011

Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral

#601
Title: Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral 
Author: Phyllis Wheatley  
Publisher: Dodo Press  
Year: 1773/2008
Country: Gambia
80 pages

I learned little about Gambia, but, I think, much about colonization. The precocious Wheatley writes rhyming religious verse with occasional reference to being torn from her home as a child. I'm sure this was considered laudable and charming in its era. Reading it from this perspective, it's a testament to cultural overthrow and puts me strongly in mind of Anderson's Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party. You can write prettily in Latin, and this may avail you some, but you're still a slave.

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