The cover page is adapted from Sunday Morning in Virginia, a painting completed in 1877 by Winslow Homer. The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by The League of Moveable Type. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_Homerwww.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
Chapters (42)
- Dedication 0:00
- Preface 0:19
- Letter to the Publisher 1:19
- To Maecenas 2:30
- On Virtue 6:14
- To the University of Cambridge, in New-England 7:39
- To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1768 9:27
- On Being Brought from Africa to America 10:33
- On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell. 1769 11:09
- On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. 1770 14:11
- On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age 17:05
- On the Death of a Young Gentleman 19:25
- To a Lady on the Death of Her Husband 20:53
- Goliath of Gath 23:07
- Thoughts on the Works of Providence 36:09
- To a Lady on the Death of Three Relations 44:50
- To a Clergyman on the Death of His Lady 46:59
- An Hymn to the Morning 49:47
- An Hymn to the Evening 51:07
- Isaiah 63:1–8 52:20
- On Recollection 54:13
- On Imagination 57:27
- A Funeral Poem on the Death of C. E. An Infant of Twelve Months 1:00:59
- To Captain H⸺d, of the 65th Regiment 1:04:06
- To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North-America, etc. 1:04:51
- Ode to Neptune 1:07:33
- To a Lady on Her Coming to North-America with Her Son, for the Recovery of Her Health 1:08:45
- To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina 1:11:05
- To a Lady and Her Children, on the Death of Her Son and Their Brother 1:13:12
- To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, Aged One Year 1:15:26
- On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall. 1771 1:17:44
- To a Gentleman on His Voyage to Great-Britain for the Recovery of His Health 1:19:33
- To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory, on Reading His Sermons on Daily Devotion, in Which That Duty Is Recommended and Assisted 1:21:31
- On the Death of J. C. An Infant 1:23:15
- An Hymn to Humanity 1:25:59
- To the Honourable T. H. Esq.; On the Death of His Daughter 1:27:54
- Niobe in Distress for Her Children Slain by Apollo, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI and from a View of the Painting of Mr. Richard Wilson 1:30:28
- To S. M. A Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works 1:44:42
- To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on the Death of His Lady. March 24, 1773 1:47:05
- A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W. 1:50:03
- A Rebus, by I. B. 1:52:57
- An Answer to the Rebus, by the Author of These Poems 1:53:49
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Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was the first book of poetry ever published by an African-American author. Phillis Wheatley’s deep familiarity with Latin literature and Christianity, combined with her African ancestry, provided her with a unique and inimitable view of poetry.
She was kidnapped and brought over to America on a ship called The Phillis after which she was named. Her interest in poetry and literature was recognized by the Wheatley family who, though keeping her enslaved, provided her with classic works of literature by authors such as Virgil, Homer, Terence, and Pope, all of whom had a significant influence on her work.
She received praise from many of her contemporaries including George Washington, John Hancock, and Voltaire. Shortly after publishing her collection of poetry she was emancipated by the Wheatley family. Even so, her life ended in poverty and obscurity.
Though her influence on poetry and African-American literature is indisputable, more modern critics of her work point to the lack of censure of slavery and the absence of discussion about the lives of black people in the United States as an example of the Uncle Tom syndrome.