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

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.