To S.M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1773

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Creativity

Wheatley’s poem engages with the concept of creativity. The subject of the poem is itself a creative product, a painting. She Importantly, while her praise of the artwork stresses its lifelike qualities, she primarily admires the act of creation itself, noting Moorhead’s skill from conception to execution:

To show the lab'ring bosom's deep intent,

And thought in living characters to paint,

When first thy pencil did those beauties give,

And breathing figures learnt from thee to live (Lines 1-4)

Here, she traces the composition of the painting, which begins as heartfelt emotion, or “bosom’s deep intent,” then takes root in his intellect and imagination when he “thought in living characters to paint,” then becomes a sketch made with “thy pencil” and finally comes to life as a painting full of “breathing figures” that spring forth from the canvas because they “learnt to live” from the artist. These lines insist on chronicling Moorhead not simply as a savant, but as a deeply knowledgeable artist with training and education. This focus elevates this act of creativity, underscoring the achievements of both the poet-speaker and the title artist, formerly enslaved people whose works challenged mainstream understandings of racial ability.

At the same time, Wheatley relies on a more classical understanding of creativity as a stroke of genius that comes from divine inspiration. Calling on the figure of the Classical muse, she links Moorhead to the long history of visual artists that stretches back into classical antiquity, subverting the traditions and racial standards surrounding creativity in her day.

Immortality

Wheatley’s discussion of immortality, a theme that preoccupies this poem, reflects her Christian beliefs. Encouraging the poet to seek “deathless glories” (Line 8) through his art, the speaker initially considers the immortality artists attain from their work as being sufficient recompense for their efforts. The speaker assures Morehead that this artwork, which gives “my soul delight” (Line 5) will result in his artistic immortality. However, this word choice heavily foreshadows the poem’s next turn—towards the best way to ensure the immortality of the painter’s soul. Even while the speaker enjoins the object of her admiration to “Conduct thy footsteps to immortal fame” (Line 12), urging him to continue his ambitious assent, she insists that he must rise while painting on “seraphic themes” (Line 11), alluding to seraphs, the angelic beings that are at the top of the Christian angel hierarchy.

Following this exhortation, the poem’s speaker contrasts artistic immortality with an everlasting Christian life and the impossibility of physical earthly immortality. No matter how long-lasting Morehead’s reputation among future generations might be, it is nothing compared to the Christian afterlife. Because heaven is “everlasting” (Line 24), spiritual immortality transcends the immortality gained through artistic works, which can no longer be added to once the artist is dead. Death will “seal[] the fair creation” (Line 34) from the artist, as life ends. For this reason, the speaker asks the subject to “Elate thy soul” (Line 14) towards Christ. Only through Christ, the speaker believes, can true immortality be achieved.

Death

Despite it being a consistent theme throughout the poem, Wheatley never once uses the word death. Instead, she uses euphemistic language, often borrowed from the Christian faith. This word choice supports Wheatley’s ambiguous relationship with death. As a Christian, Wheatley would have believed that death is not the end, as heaven awaits those who have led virtuous and godly lives—in Christianity, death leads to a better, more enlightened plane of existence. Yet, even in her deeply abiding faith, Wheatley laments the fact that death means the loss of art and earthly life—in fact, this poem is an elegy of sorts that mourns the eventual end of creative expression, a coming loss that weighs heavily on the speaker. Death is called “the solemn gloom of night” (Line 33), while art is wistfully and mournfully described as its visual opposite, a “fair creation” (Line 34). Despite the promises of heaven, experiences like the one the speaker had in reaction to the painting will no longer be possible.