1773年5月，波士顿众多报纸中的某一家的读者看到了这样一则新闻. Calef in the ship 伦敦, sails for 伦敦 … in whom go Passengers Mr. Nathaniel Wheatley, 商人, Phillis Wheatley, 有独创性的黑人诗人”——被称为“非凡的女诗人”或“非凡的诗歌天才”, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley.菲利斯·惠特利此行的部分原因是为了恢复她脆弱的健康, but more importantly to shepherd her book of poetry through to publication. A year earlier, a proposal to publish her book of poetry in Boston had fallen flat, 但是苏珊娜·惠特利——她的奴隶的妻子——安排伦敦出版商阿奇博尔德·贝尔出版了这本薄薄的诗集.

As she writes in her letter to David Wooster, 这位年轻的诗人在英国受到了热情的欢迎，在那里她遇到了“如此亲切的问候”, so many marks of esteem and real Friendship, as astonishes me on the reflection.” During her six weeks there, she met lords and ladies, 教授, statesmen including Benjamin Franklin. She saw the Tower of 伦敦, the Crown Jewels, British Museum, Royal Observatory, among other attractions. 达特茅斯伯爵给了惠特利5基尼的礼物和一些阅读建议. When news of Susannah Wheatley’s illness arrived in 伦敦, 然而, Phillis hastened to return to Boston, arriving in September with the expectation that the copies of her 诗 would follow close behind. Writing Wooster in mid-October, she expected that the 达特茅斯, under Capt. James Hall, would arrive “in 8 or 10 days.”

的 达特茅斯

惠特利对她的书到货日期的计算结果有点乐观. 这艘船停泊在伦敦港口，等待足够的回程货物，以使这次航行有利可图，船长最终同意将英属东印度的茶叶运往波士顿, little expecting what awaited on the other side of the Atlantic. On 28 November 1773, the 达特茅斯 arrived in Boston with 114 chests of the detested tea, 并被扣押在格里芬码头，直到焦躁不安的波士顿市民决定它的命运. 在船的船舱里，和茶叶一起的还有一个集装箱，里面装的是菲利斯·惠特利的书 诗.

On the evening of 16 December, the disgruntled citizens of Boston acted, dumping the cargos of tea from the 达特茅斯, 海狸, 埃莉诺 into Boston Harbor. Fortunately for Wheatley, 然而, 参与者致力于破坏茶，而且只破坏茶. 罗伯特·艾利森将波士顿倾茶事件描述为一场战术罢工，而非暴民行动:

On each ship the men formed three teams. One went below the deck to bring out the chests; others worked the hoists and tackles to bring the chests up from the hold; others split the chests with their hatchets and dumped them over the side. 一名观察人士指出:“整个交易过程完全符合规则。. 虽然码头上有很多人，但周围一片寂静，没有喧哗，没有谈话.” Each squad captain kept careful tally against the manifest, ensuring that every chest of East India Company tea, only the East India Company’s tea, was destroyed.” … 的ir work done, the men closed the holds, stowed the tackle, swept the decks, invited the officers up to inspect the work.

的 crate containing Wheatley’s 诗 on Various Subjects survived the evening and at the end of January 1774, the firm of Cox & Berry on King Street in Boston offered copies of Wheatley’s work, 《利记APP官网手机版》出售——第一本由非裔美国女性出版的诗集.

自由

尽管韦奕礼可以在踏上英国土地的那一刻就自我解放，因为她的决定 Somerset v. 斯图尔特, she chose to return to the Wheatley home in Boston. But as she relates in her letter to Wooster, “Since my return to America my Master, has at the desire of my friends in England given me my freedom. 这份文书是为了保证我和我的财产不受遗嘱执行人的控制而起草的. Administrators, &c. of my master & 只要是属于我的东西，我就一定要得到……”这是她有生以来第一次这样想, 菲利斯要对自己负全部责任——她在给伍斯特的信中承认了这一点:

I beg the favour that you would honour the enclos’d Proposals, & use your interest with the Gentlemen & Ladies of your acquaintance to subscribe also, 订阅者越多，对我来说就越有利，因为我可以获得一半的销售额, This I am the more solicitous for, 因为我现在有了自己的立足点，我从中得到的一切都是我的, & it is the Chief I have to depend upon. I must also request you would desire the Printers in New Haven, not to reprint that Book, as it will be a great hurt to me...

As Vincent Carretta observes in his biography of Wheatley (p. 271), freedom would not prove kind to Phillis Wheatley:

菲利斯·惠特利1773年在伦敦受到的关注，以及她回到波士顿后在伦敦的作品受到的欢迎，让她有充分的理由期待在美国也能获得自由和文学上的成功. 她没有预见到美国独立战争造成的经济和社会混乱会极大地改变她的期望. 她很快就会发现，一旦她成为一名有色人种的自由妇女，波士顿有多少“善良的伟人”会来帮助她.

Wheatley never stopped striving, 然而. In 1778, 她嫁给了一个名叫约翰·彼得斯的自由黑人。第二年，她试图找到一家出版商，出版第二本献给本杰明·富兰克林的诗集. Boston publishers White & 亚当斯同意，如果她能吸引到足够多的订阅者，就出版这本书, but in a city and country in the midst of Revolution, poetry was not top of mind. Wheatley reissued the proposal in 1784, but again there were no takers. She published a few poems after the publication of 诗 on Various Subjects, but never duplicated the success of her debut.

她的婚姻生活在稳定和混乱之间循环. 简洁地说，“惠特利的自由使她的生活变得艰难.” Having lost two children already, 菲利斯·惠特利和她年幼的女儿于1784年12月死于波士顿的一所寄宿公寓. 根据卡雷塔的说法，她的丈夫当时可能因债务而入狱. 的 Independent Chronicle and Universal Advertiser 12月9日的简短讣告上写道:“菲利斯·彼得斯原名菲利斯·惠特利，享年31岁, known to the literary world by her celebrated miscellaneous poems. 她的葬礼定于今天下午举行，希望她的朋友和熟人都能参加.” In the months following her death, John Peters advertised for the return of “a volume of manuscript poems &c of Phillis Peters, 以前叫菲利斯·惠特利，因为她的全部作品都要出版.“遗憾的是, the manuscript of her second volume of poetry is lost to history, 尽管在她死后的几个世纪里出现了一些个人诗歌.