Captive genius.

• Author: Edmonds, Terry

HENRY LOUIS GATES'S LATEST book, The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, is more than the story of America's first black poet; it recounts the opening chapter in a struggle for literary and racial identity that began in the 18th century and continues to this day. Much like its title character, the book, though small in stature (only 107 pages), is full of powerful surprises.

The biggest surprise of all is that only 12 years after her 1761 arrival in Boston on a slave ship, speaking only Wolof, her native tongue, Phillis Wheatley was publishing the first book of poetry in the Western world by an African-American writer. Wheatley's masters, John and Susanna Wheatley, and their daughter, Mary, first opened the door to this stunning achievement. For reasons not fully known, this trio took it upon themselves to tutor young Phillis in English, Latin, and the Bible. It was not long before the precocious black child was writing and publishing poetry clearly reflecting the influence of such literary giants as Alexander Pope and John Milton.

Phillis Wheatley's reputation quickly grew in England, where her first and only volume, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in 1773. While she was not accorded as much acclaim in the United States, her literary talents did attract the attention of both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, and she became a darling of American abolitionists, who pointed to her achievements "as proof positive of the equality of the African, and therefore as a reason to abolish slavery."

But many white Americans impugned Phillis Wheatley's authenticity by defining her as nothing more than a classical "imitator." In fact, some, like Thomas Jefferson, insisted that it was virtually impossible for blacks, whom he considered mentally inferior to whites, to produce great art or poetry. To Jefferson, "The compositions composed under her name are below the dignity of criticism."

But for me the greater tragedy of Phillis Wheatley's life, as described by Gates, was not the doubt or scorn rained upon her by skeptical whites, who, against all evidence, could not bring themselves to believe that an African slave girl could write poetry that captured the attention of both King George and George Washington. After all, Wheatley's achievements were validated in her day by other members of the white intelligentsia, a recognition that not only loosed the shackles of her own literary dreams, but proclaimed the humanity of all...