Phillies wheatley biography video walt

Influence on Wheatley’s work

Inspired by classical Greek and Latin poetry Phillis used a style of writing called elegiac. An elegy is a type of poetic meter in which each couplet consist of a hexameter verse followed by a pentameter verse, conveying and expressing sad emotions.

One of the leading elegiac Roman poets was Ovid, who was great influence to her work, she even translated his tales into English. Phillis was also influenced by philosophers and 18^th century English poets and embarked into writing her own poetry.

Strongly influenced by her religious convictions she exerted power through her writing.

Phillies wheatley biography video walt

She wrote pious and political poems as well elegies of prominent citizens. Her passion for immortalizing the dead and her rhyming verses made her poetry stand out. She eventually became the first African American to publish a book and the first woman to make a living from her writing.

Recognition and First Publication

In 1767 she wrote “An Addr