In the 1700’s many great poets came about. Though it is very difficult, we can still compare and contrast the writings of those times. I chose to write about two very different poets, Jane Austen and Phillis Wheatley.

Jane Austen was born in December of 1775 to George and Cassandra Austen. Jane had 7 brothers and sisters (James, George, Charles, Fransis, Henry, Edward and Cassandra). At 11 she started writing short stories and poetry. At 14 she became a professional writer. Jane wrote the famous poem “Ode to Pity” in 1793. She also wrote many other poems. But, in 1817, at 42 years old, Jane passed away.

In 1753 Phillis Wheatley was born in Gambia, Senegal. In 1761 Phillis was sold to a family in Boston, Massachusetts. There, she was taught to read and write. The Wheatley family encouraged Phillis to write poetry. The 17 year old daughter of the Wheatleys helped to teach Phillis to read and write poetry. This helped her become who she was. In 1773 Phillis finished the poem collection called “Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral”. Sadly Phillis died in December of 1784.

Phillis Wheatley usually writes with sentence fragments, though most poets do.
“Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr’s wing” { A Hymn to the Evening’ Verse 1 } This shows how she writes in sentence fragments.
Also I noticed that she writes in present tense form.
“The Pow'r propitious hears the lay, The blue-ey'd daughters of the sea With sweeter cadence glide along, And Thames responsive joins the song. Pleas'd with their notes Sol sheds benign his ray, And double radiance decks the face of day” { ‘Ode to Neptune’ Verse 2 } This shows how she writes in present tense form. She uses words like ‘hears’ which is a present tense verb.
Another thing that I noticed about Phillis is that she uses a lot of adjectives.
“While raging tempests shake the shore” { ‘Ode to Neptune’ Verse 2 } This is an example of how she uses adjectives ( RAGING tempests) Raging is describing tempests which makes it an adjective.
One more thing I noticed about Phillis’ poems is that they are mostly about simple subjects like death, morning, night, and mankind. She takes them in a non literary sense. She uses words like ‘Celestial’ and ‘Empyreal’ and ‘Raptur’d’ all from the poem “A Funeral Poem on the Death of C.E.” Even though I couldn’t understand these words the first time through, when I looked them up, it made sense to me. These are just a few things that stood out to me when reading Phillis’ poems.

Jane Austen tends to write in complete thoughts rather than sentence fragments, although she sometimes may use them in a line or two.
“Oh how can I her person try to image or portray? How paint the face, on those form trace, on which those virtues lay?” { ‘Mock Panegyric on a Young Friend’ Verse 5 }
Another thing I noticed about Jane is that she too writes in present tense.
“In hat upon his head, to the church he goes, As oft, with conscious pride he downward throws…” { ‘Happy the Lab’rer’ Line 4 } This shows how she uses present tense because of the words ’he goes’. This is a present tense verb.

Also I noticed that Jane seems to write things from a comical viewpoint.
“Her wit descends on foes and friends, Like famed Niagara's fall; And travelers gaze in wild amaze, And listen, one and all. Her judgment sound, thick, black, profound, Like transatlantic groves, Dispenses aid, and friendly shade, To all that in it roves.” {‘Mock Panegyric on a Young Friend’ Verses 3+4} This shows that she is trying to be comical because in the first line ‘Her wit descends on foes and friends, like famed Niagara falls’ this basically means that she is way too smart, so much so that it rubs off on you if you talk to her.

Overall these women are very different than one another. Phillis serious, Jane funny, and Phillis sentence fragments, Jane Sentences. But they do have one thing in common, they both write in present tense. I prefer Jane’s because they give me a chuckle.

Citations:
. Jane Austen, . Poem Hunter , 2011. Web. 27 Nov 2011. <http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/jane_austen_2004_9.pdf>.
. "Poem Hunter .Com." Poem Hunter . Com. N.p., 0712004. Web. 27 Nov 2011. <http://poemhunter.com/poem/an-hymn-to-humanity/>.
. "Love revealing. love enduring.." janeausten.org. N.p., 2008. Web. 27 Nov 2011. <http://janeausten.org/>
. "Wikipedia." Wikipedia. N.p., 29112011. Web. 27 Nov 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley>.