Greek and Roman Mythology (Motif)
Greek and Roman mythology figure prominently in many of Phillis Wheatley's poems. By alluding to Greek and Roman gods and heroes, Wheatley adds to the heroic verse and style of her poems, and creates an equality between Christian religious figures and Greek and Roman gods.
Fetters (Symbol)
In "On Imagination," Wheatley uses the image of fetters to symbolize enslavement. Though Fancy is fettered by a love object, the poem indicates an inability to break free, and describes Winter as a powerful figure that controls the speaker the way a slave master does, making the fetters a symbol for the speaker's enslavement.
Personification (Motif)
Throughout her poetry, Wheatley often personifies significant words. In her "To the Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of DARTMOUTH, his Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State of North-America, &c.” Freedom is personified in order to substantiate its importance and to insist on its power. In "On Imagination" and "On Virtue," personification places Virtue and Imagination on the level of the gods, and alludes to the Greek and Roman classical tradition of personification.
Muse (Motif)
Throughout Wheatley's poetry, the muse is a recurrent figure that ends and begins several poems. In "To S.M., A Young African Painter, on seeing his Works," Wheatley describes the muse, and asks the muse to cease as night and death will bring an end to art. Wheatley also invokes the muse in "On Imagination," and seems to address some force in her poetry often, asking it to cease at the end of the work. By invoking the muse, Wheatley is further continuing the classical tradition she frequently mentions in her verse.
Winter (Allegory)
In "On Imagination," the relationship between Winter and the speaker serves as an allegory for enslavement. Though the speaker's Fancy can dream and use her imagination to break through boundaries, ultimately Winter, the slave master, steps in and limits the speaker from ascending to their full potential. They cannot climb up the mountain or look upon Aurora because Winter tells them they cannot. The speaker must ultimately silence their song in order to appease Winter.
