The life of poets is often tragic. Not only because of the sadness, happiness or melancholy that their verses evoke, but because poetry becomes, for them, a way of being on Earth and directing their actions without limits.
Robert Diaz. Peninsula 360 Press.
Phillis Wheatley - from 1753 to 1784 - well represents this strange destiny for people who live within a certain normality, and tragic destiny for those who, perhaps, without knowing it, already embodied a struggle, and without intending it, would prefigure more than a struggle: an ideal of equality.
Born in Senegal, she was caught and taken to the United States at the age of seven and sold by the slave traders to John and Susanna Wheatley, a name she would adopt along with the name of the schooner that crossed the Atlantic: Phillips.
Settling down next to the servants of this Boston family, they soon realized the enormous talents that the young woman, who had been bought in the slave market, was displaying and educating her. They taught her - along with the couple's twins, Nathaniel and Mary - theology, philosophy, astronomy, and literature, in addition to studying English and classical languages.
Influenced by her Bible readings - she was initiated into Christianity - the poems of John Milton and the philosophy of Alexander Pope, little Phillips showed her poetic gifts in the gatherings that the family held at that time in Massachusetts. In the face of a racist society, whose production was based on the slavery that the young slave girl claimed must have been a blow, even emotional, since in that society, people of colour were considered to be soulless and generally intellectually inferior.
In this context, the poet was interrogated by prominent local people -Massachusetts- to corroborate that the writings belonged to the slave. Even the state governor was in on this interrogation.
Phillips was the third woman to publish in the United States. Her book Poems Various Subjects was published in 1773, just two years before the outbreak of the Civil War in North America. Although his work had only been valued as a historical document, which beyond having a literary value in itself, was seen as something like a document that had opened a new path for a vilified social sector in the American Union.
Just as George Washington greeted and celebrated his lyrics, so did Voltaire. He had the opportunity to go to England, where he also met with important figures of the time - Franklin, the Earl of Darthmouth and the Mayor of London - who were able to express their admiration for him, as well as receiving a copy of "The ingenious hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha", the work of the greatest exponent of Spanish literature, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, and one of "The lost paradise"by John Milton.
Despite becoming a famous writer and publishing her works, she fell into a deep depression after the death of the Wheatley twins, who died unexpectedly. Philis Wheatley bought her freedom and she married a free man who couldn't get her out of the poverty she was living in. They both had three children who later died.
Her husband left her and Phillis died at the age of 31 in poverty and his work fell into oblivion.
