PR: 5

This poem caught my eye instantly when I started to look for the right poem. Donnelly, the author, is obviously furious with both Cotton Mather and slavery. She is frustrated with the enslavement of people, but for the time it definitely it not something that was looked down upon. The most interesting thing about the poem is that these people, Cotton Mather and Onesimus, were real. The work that Cotton was developing was a vaccine for small pox. This took place during a Puritan hypocrisy during the early settlement of America. Mather presented the idea as his own when in fact it was his slave’s idea.

It is an intriguing fact, but from Onesimus’ statement it is shown that he was quite educated and had an understanding of medical procedures. Onesimus was a survivor of the small pox epidimic that was present in Boston during the time. This is the reference to Boston in the poem. Thus the need for a cure of smallpox was something that was necessary to insure the survival of the population.

The wisdom of Onesimus and the pursuit inside Cotton shows the powerful impact of this poem. While it does seem bad to the author what Cotton did by stealing Onesiumus’s idea, there would be no way that he could propose his idea. He was a slave and did not have rights. However, this poem is very strong and I liked it.