The Full Text of “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
1'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
2Taught my benighted soul to understand
3That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
4Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
5Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
6"Their colour is a diabolic die."
7Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
8May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Introduction
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"On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a poem written by Phillis Wheatley, published in her 1773 poetry collection "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral." The poem describes Wheatley's experience as a young girl who was enslaved and brought to the American colonies in 1761. As the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry, Wheatley uses this poem to argue that all people, regardless of race, are capable of finding salvation through Christianity. By tapping into the common humanity that lies at the heart of Christian doctrine, Wheatley poses a gentle but powerful challenge to racism in America.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Summary
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The speaker describes being taken from her non-Christian homeland as an act of kindness and compassion. This experience gave her the opportunity to learn about Christianity and redemption through Jesus, something that had been unknown to her and as such that she would never have sought out otherwise. The speaker then addresses the fact that many people look down on African Americans and interpret their dark skin tone as a sign of the devil. The speaker reminds fellow Christians that African Americans, with their skin as dark as that of the biblical figure of Cain, also have access to redemption and salvation through Christianity.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Themes
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Christianity and Racial Equality
In "On Being Brought from Africa to America," the speaker argues that Christian teachings have led her to reject racism on the grounds that all people are equal in the eyes of God. She directly rejects the belief that African Americans are not capable of redemption, a prevalent idea among the white Christian community in the 18th century, and insists that black people, too, may "join th' angelic train" of God.
After establishing her gratitude for her conversion to Christianity in the first half of the poem, the speaker turns her attention towards those who view dark skin as something untrustworthy and even demonic—views that unfortunately were commonplace in the 18th century and beyond. She then uses a Biblical allusion to advance her assertion that Christianity supports racial equality, bringing up the story of Cain and Abel.
According to the Bible, the first homicide was committed by Cain when he killed his brother, Abel. After Cain was punished by God for this offense, God then showed mercy by offering Cain protection from his own untimely death. God placed a “mark” on Cain that would serve as a warning to other people who might be motivated to harm Cain. Many Protestant Christians during this time period believed that the mark of Cain was dark skin, hence the speaker's reference to being “black as Cain.” By drawing this comparison between Africans and Cain, however, the speaker suggests that people from Africa are worthy of the same mercy and forgiveness that God granted the first murderer. The speaker thus raises an important question to her Christian audience: if Cain deserved God’s mercy, shouldn’t everyone be offered mercy, regardless of race?
What's more, the speaker's phrasing here—“Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain”—effectively places the words (and concepts) of “Christians” and “Negros” side-by-side. This creates an association between Christianity and African Americans in the reader's mind, reinforcing the speaker's point that these traits—being Christian and being black—are not mutually exclusive.
The notion of mercy established here also relates back to the first line of the poem, in which the speaker characterizes her migration from Africa to America as merciful—that is, marked by kindness and compassion. The allusion to Cain thus allows the poem to come full circle, and further implies that the same mercy must be extended to all people who haven’t had access to a Christian education.
The speaker finishes up by saying that people of African descent “May be refined and join the angelic train.” In 1773, this was a powerful statement, especially from a slave. Here the speaker firmly insists that redemption is possible for everyone if they are given the opportunity to learn about the existence of God and the teachings of Jesus. Therefore, the poem presents animosity towards African people as not only misguided, but as antithetical to the Christian philosophy of universal redemption and salvation.
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Redemption and Salvation
The speaker describes her experience as a young African girl who was enslaved and sold to the Wheatley family in 1761. While living with the Wheatleys in Boston, the speaker learned about Christianity. In addition to specifically arguing for racial equality on the basis of Christian teachings, the poem also captures Wheatley's general appreciation for her life in America and, most importantly, for her discovery of redemption and salvation through Christianity in the first place. The speaker insists that redemption is possible for everyone if they are given the opportunity to learn about the existence of God and the teachings of Jesus.
The speaker first expresses gratitude for her conversion to Christianity when she states that it was "mercy" that brought her from Africa to America. By describing her entrance into the slave trade as an act of mercy, the speaker immediately establishes her belief that leaving Africa was essential to her long-term happiness and well-being. She goes on to say that it allowed her “benighted soul” to learn that “there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too.” Wheatley’s use of the term “benighted” has special significance here due to its double meaning: it refers to her moral and intellectual ignorance before learning about Christianity while also implying that her soul was overtaken by darkness when she was still in Africa. In the poem, then, Christianity is directly associated with light and freedom from ignorance.
She explains that she has since embraced Christianity wholeheartedly, but emphasizes that this was only possible because of her immersion into American culture. This sentiment is depicted in the fourth line when the speaker suggests that she would have never sought out redemption if she was never educated about it. In this sense, redemption and salvation becomes a matter of education and opportunity, one that would've never been provided to the speaker were she not sent to America.
The speaker supports this assertion in the final line of the poem, which maintains that African Americans can become good Christians if they are given the chance to do so. Her argument appears to come from a place of benevolence: she is aware of the beneficial role that Christianity has played in her life, and she wants to extend that benefit to other people, regardless of race. She recognizes her privilege as an enslaved person who had access to a Christian education and firmly believes that the path to redemption and salvation should be made accessible to everyone.
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
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Lines 1-1
'Twas mercy brought me from my
Pagan
land,The opening line of the poem establishes its central theme. It is immediately clear that Wheatley is grateful for her departure from Africa, framing it as an act of mercy. She emphasizes the widespread paganism in African culture by italicizing the word “Pagan,” thereby bringing it to the reader’s attention. From the beginning of the poem, then, it is evident that Wheatley has abandoned paganism in favor of Christianity and recognizes that this probably wouldn’t have happened had she remained in the “Pagan land” of Africa.
The first line also makes great use of personification. The speaker describes “mercy” as the force that brought her from Africa to America, which obscures the reality of slave traders tearing her away from her home and selling her off for their own profit. Obviously, there was nothing noble or merciful about the slave traders' intentions, but Wheatley has removed the element of human participation from her account. Instead, her description transcends these social systems and focuses entirely on God’s mercy.
The next instance of personification, when Wheatley describes Africa as a “Pagan land,” completes Wheatley’s positive portrayal of her departure. For her, the move to America gave her an unprecedented opportunity to learn about worldviews that differed from the African paganism she was originally taught. Wheatley implies that her departure from Africa was the result of divine interference that eventually led her on a path to religious conversion.
In addition to establishing the poem's main theme, this line also sets the poem's meter and rhyme scheme. The use of iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets remains consistent throughout the poem, creating a strong sense of cohesion and structure. Recall that an iamb is a poetic foot with an unstressed-stressed syllable patter, and pentameter means there are five of these iambs (and thus ten syllables) per line:
'Twas mer- | cy brought | me from | my Pa- |gan land,
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Lines 2-4
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a
Saviour
too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
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Lines 5-6
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die." -
Lines 7-8
Remember,
Christians
,
Negros
, black as
Cain
,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Symbols
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Cain
Although the figure of Cain has a specific role in the Bible, this poem uses Cain as a broader symbol of the human condition. In the Bible, Cain is infamous for becoming the first murderer when he kills his brother, Abel. God punishes Cain for his sin by banishing him from Eden and condemning him to a life of wandering. Despite this punishment, God places a mark on Cain to prevent anyone from harming or killing him once he's banned from paradise. Wheatley uses Cain's notorious status to illustrate a larger point about the state of humanity through the lens of Christianity: we are all sinners, and we are all worthy of mercy and forgiveness.
From this perspective, it stands to reason that African Americans should be granted the same mercy and given the opportunity to redeem themselves through Christianity. If God was willing to show mercy to the first murderer, then Christians have no justification for denying mercy to anyone, especially people who have not had the opportunity to learn about Christianity and its teachings. In a brilliant move, Wheatley uses scripture to gently expose the hypocrisy of many 18th-century Christians and encourage them to rethink their harsh attitudes towards African Americans.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Imagery
The first half of the poem draws on imagery to vividly represent the speaker's conversion from paganism to Christianity. She frames the conversion process as a spiritual awakening that allowed her "benighted soul" to grasp the existence of God and Jesus Christ. By describing the soul as "benighted," she invokes the image of her soul being shrouded in darkness prior to her conversion.
This imagery centered around darkness continues through the second half of the poem when Wheatley addresses white people's attitudes towards the "sable race" or those of African descent. She then contrasts outer darkness with inner darkness, arguing that African people are equally capable of reaching salvation and accessing the "angelic train." The term "angelic" is strongly associated with heaven, of course, creating an effective contrast with the imagery of darkness.
Through this skillful use of imagery, Wheatley subtly points out the inherent superficiality of racism. She contends that the condition of the soul supersedes one's skin color, making salvation possible for anyone who is willing to keep an open mind. Her once "benighted soul" has now been enlightened by the teachings of Christianity, thereby making her skin color irrelevant. Wheatley extends this logic to all people and suggests that anyone can experience the same spiritual transformation under the right circumstances.
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Metaphor
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Allusion
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Personification
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Caesura
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Consonance
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Assonance
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- 'Twas
- Pagan
- Benighted
- Redemption
- Sable
- Diabolic
- Die
- Cain
- Refined
'Twas-
A contraction of "it" and "was" that has fallen out of common use.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
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Form
The verse form of this poem is an octave, or a stanza consisting of eight lines. It is also a rhymed stanza that is entirely made up of heroic couplets, which is another term for rhymed couplets that are written in iambic pentameter (more on this in the Meter section of this guide). The first four lines of the poem focus on the speaker's gratitude for being brought to America and taught about Christianity, while the second half of the poem focuses on the speaker's argument against racism based on the idea that all people are able to find redemption through God.
Wheatley's tightly-controlled form reflects her confidence in her argument. The poem is clear and straightforward, without formal deviations to detract from its message. Wheatley's use of heroic couplets also pays homage to traditional techniques of English poetry. This mirrors Wheatley's position as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry; she toes the line between appealing to her mostly white readership and establishing her unique vantage point as an educated African American woman living in colonial America.
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Meter
This poem is written in iambic pentameter. This means that each line is written with five metrical feet that alternate between one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable, creating a familiar da DUM rhythm. Here's a look at lines 1-4:
'Twas mer- | cy brought | me from | my Pa- | gan land,
Taught my | benight- | ed soul | to un | derstand
That there's | a God, | that there's | a Sa- | viour too:
Once I | redemp- | tion nei- | ther sought | nor knew.The meter is almost perfect; arguably line 2 opens with a trochee (stressed-unstressed), fittingly reducing the emphasis on the "my," or the speaker's self, perhaps in an act of humility. Even this might be scanned differently by different readers, however. And even Shakespeare, the most famous user of iambic pentameter, included many variations and substitutions in his verse. Broadly speaking, the meter in Wheatley's poem is thus quite strict.
This type of meter is the standard in traditional English poetry, suggesting that Wheatley might have chosen this meter to appeal to her predominantly white and well-to-do audience. In 1773, literature and poetry was mainly accessible to those who had the education to comprehend it and the resources to consume it, so Wheatley was acutely aware that her poetry would be read by a narrow demographic. Wheatley's adherence to the favored meter of her time promotes the image of the "refined" and cultured African-American that she describes here, lending credence to her central argument.
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Rhyme Scheme
This poem is completely comprised of rhyming couplets. As a result, it has a traditional rhyme scheme of:
AABBCCDD
The rhyme scheme consists solely of these end rhymes, all of which are perfect; there are no slant rhymes to be found. The consistent rhyme scheme produces a melodious effect and creates a sense of cohesion, of the poem being tightly controlled and its arguments thoughtfully considered.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Speaker
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In this particular poem, the poet and the speaker are interchangeable. Because this is the Phillis Wheatley's personal narrative of an actual life experience, the reader can view the poet and the speaker as the same person.
Wheatley's tone evolves throughout the poem, starting out as grateful before ending on a somewhat bitter and critical note. In the first half of the poem, Wheatley expresses appreciation for the influence of Christianity in her life. She acknowledges that if she had never been enslaved and brought to America, she probably never would have had the opportunity to convert to Christianity. In the second half of the poem, however, she criticizes the racist beliefs harbored by many white people in the Christian community. There is an undercurrent of disappointment in white people who fail to embrace African Americans as fellow Christians. On this note, Wheatley encourages her Christian audience to reconsider their viewpoint and embrace the Biblical principle that salvation is possible for all people.
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” Setting
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The setting is conveniently portrayed in the title of this poem. Phillis Wheatley describes her experience of being sold into the slave trade when she was a young child. In 1753, she traveled from West Africa to the American colonies, where she was eventually bought by the Wheatleys in Boston and assumed their surname. As a young adult, Wheatley reflects on this formative experience and its implications for religion, racial equality, and society.
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Literary and Historical Context of “On Being Brought from Africa to America”
Literary Context
Phillis Wheatley made her literary debut when she published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773. "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is featured in this collection and remains one of Wheatley's most well-known and critically acclaimed poems. As the first African-American woman to publish a collection of poetry, Wheatley made literary history and accomplished something that was truly unprecedented for her time.
Although she was enslaved and purchased by the Wheatley family at a young age, she benefited from the relatively progressive views of the Wheatleys, who taught her to read and write. When she exhibited a knack for writing and poetry, the Wheatleys actively encouraged her talent, leading to the publication of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral when she was 20 years old.
While "On Being Brought from Africa to America" was part of a larger collection, it sets itself apart from the majority of Wheatley's poetry in its exploration of her personal life. It is one of the few poems where Wheatley reflects on her status as a slave and how the institution of slavery has impacted her life. This firsthand account of slavery continues to be recognized as a notable contribution to literature during a time when the vast majority of slaves were illiterate and did not have access to the education or resources necessary to produce such an account.
Historical Context
This poem (and the larger collection) was published during the colonial revolts that would ultimately culminate into the Revolutionary War and American independence. This is echoed in a variety of Wheatley's poems where she endorsed revolutionary ideas and supported the rebellion. As the colonies sought to form a new national identity, Wheatley had an opportunity to influence the conversation surrounding slavery and suggest that the same progressive attitudes driving the revolution should be extended to African Americans.
Despite the revolutionary ideas that were proliferating throughout American culture, the institution of slavery was still deeply entrenched in the structure and consciousness of American society. In fact, Phillis Wheatley had to defend her authorship of On Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in court before it was published. Many colonists simply didn't believe that an African American was capable of Wheatley's literary prowess.
Fortunately, the court determined that Wheatley was the rightful author and included an attestation in the preface of her collection that verified the originality of her work. Boston publishers still refused to publish her work, but she was eventually able to secure publication through the support of wealthy patrons based in London, particularly Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the Earl of Dartmouth. Without the support of these patrons, it is possible that Wheatley's poetry would have never been published.
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More “On Being Brought from Africa to America” Resources
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External Resources
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Biography of Phillis Wheatley — An overview of Wheatley's life and work.
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Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral — An online version of Wheatley's poetry collection, including "On Being Brought from Africa to America."
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"The Privileged and Impoverished Life of Phillis Wheatley" — A discussion of Phillis Wheatley's controversial status within the African American community.
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Illustrated Works — More on Wheatley's work from PBS, including illustrations of her poems and a portrait of the poet herself.
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Wheatley and Women's History — Additional information about Wheatley's life, upbringing, and education, including resources for further research.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Phillis Wheatley
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