TASK: Examine the “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Identify literary and poetic devices? Then,
articulate how each element impacts the meaning of the poem. How does she master an effective use of
literary and poetic devices to deeply examine an issue that thematically connects much of her work to the
historical context? Does the poem exhibit any puritan ideologies? Enlightened ideals?
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, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d and join th’angelic train