Poetry and Memory: "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley

In 1981, Nigerian scholar, S.E. Ogude, published an article that defined African literature as follows: "the collective expression of the racial memory of black people all over the world" 24-25).

On Being Brought from Africa to America '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, Negro's, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Phillis Wheatley Credits: S. E. Ogude World Literature Today Vol. 55, No. 1, The Swedish Writers behind the Nobel Prize (Winter, 1981), pp. 21-25 Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma Tru FireElectric, Focus On The Creative

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