Religion
On Being Brought from Africa to America
From Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773)
'TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew,
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
Codex Note
One of her best-known poems: eight lines that give thanks for her Christian faith and answer those who scorn the colour of her race.
Cite this poem
MLA
Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wheatley/4/.
Chicago
Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wheatley/4/.
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