SELECTED POEMS by PHYLLIS WHEATLEY.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 1773

(TEXT FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG)

ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA.

’Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

  Taught my benighted soul to understand

  That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:

  Once I redemption neither fought nor knew,

  Some view our sable race with scornful eye,

  “Their colour is a diabolic die.”

   Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,

  May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

AN HYMN TO HUMANITY.  TO S. P. G. ESQ;

                I.

  LO! for this dark terrestrial ball

  Forsakes his azure-paved hall

      A prince of heav’nly birth!

  Divine Humanity behold,

  What wonders rise, what charms unfold

      At his descent to earth!

                 II.

  The bosoms of the great and good

  With wonder and delight he view’d,

      And fix’d his empire there:

  Him, close compressing to his breast,

  The sire of gods and men address’d,

      “My son, my heav’nly fair!

                 III.

  “Descend to earth, there place thy throne;

  “To succour man’s afflicted son

      “Each human heart inspire:

  “To act in bounties unconfin’d

  “Enlarge the close contracted mind,

      “And fill it with thy fire.”

                 IV.

  Quick as the word, with swift career

  He wings his course from star to star,

      And leaves the bright abode.

  The Virtue did his charms impart;

  Their G——-! then thy raptur’d heart

      Perceiv’d the rushing God:

                 V.

  For when thy pitying eye did see

  The languid muse in low degree,

      Then, then at thy desire

  Descended the celestial nine;

  O’er me methought they deign’d to shine,

      And deign’d to string my lyre.

                 VI.

  Can Afric’s muse forgetful prove?

  Or can such friendship fail to move

      A tender human heart?

  Immortal Friendship laurel-crown’d

  The smiling Graces all surround

      With ev’ry heav’nly Art.

A FAREWEL TO AMERICA. TO MRS. S. W.

                I.

  ADIEU, New-England’s smiling meads,

      Adieu, the flow’ry plain:

  I leave thine op’ning charms, O spring,

      And tempt the roaring main.

                 II.

  In vain for me the flow’rets rise,

      And boast their gaudy pride,

  While here beneath the northern skies

      I mourn for health deny’d.

                 III.

  Celestial maid of rosy hue,

      O let me feel thy reign!

  I languish till thy face I view,

      Thy vanish’d joys regain.

                 IV.

  Susanna mourns, nor can I bear

      To see the crystal show’r,

  Or mark the tender falling tear

      At sad departure’s hour;

                 V.

  Not unregarding can I see

      Her soul with grief opprest:

  But let no sighs, no groans for me,

      Steal from her pensive breast.

                 VI.

  In vain the feather’d warblers sing,

      In vain the garden blooms,

  And on the bosom of the spring

      Breathes out her sweet perfumes.

                 VII.

  While for Britannia’s distant shore

      We sweep the liquid plain,

  And with astonish’d eyes explore

      The wide-extended main.

                 VIII.

  Lo! Health appears! celestial dame!

      Complacent and serene,

  With Hebe’s mantle o’er her Frame,

      With soul-delighting mein.

                 IX.

  To mark the vale where London lies

      With misty vapours crown’d,

  Which cloud Aurora’s thousand dyes,

      And veil her charms around.

                 X.

  Why, Phoebus, moves thy car so slow?

      So slow thy rising ray?

  Give us the famous town to view,

      Thou glorious king of day!

                XI.

  For thee, Britannia, I resign

      New-England’s smiling fields;

  To view again her charms divine,

      What joy the prospect yields!

                 XII.

  But thou!  Temptation hence away,

      With all thy fatal train,

  Nor once seduce my soul away,

      By thine enchanting strain.

                 XIII.

  Thrice happy they, whose heav’nly shield

      Secures their souls from harms,

  And fell Temptation on the field

      Of all its pow’r disarms!

    Boston, May 7, 1773.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON

   Celestial choir! enthron'd in realms of light,

Columbia's scenes of glorious toils I write.

While freedom's cause her anxious breast alarms,

She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.

See mother earth her offspring's fate bemoan,

And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!

See the bright beams of heaven's revolving light

Involved in sorrows and the veil of night!

   The Goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,

Olive and laurel binds Her golden hair:

Wherever shines this native of the skies,

Unnumber'd charms and recent graces rise.

   Muse! Bow propitious while my pen relates

How pour her armies through a thousand gates,

As when Eolus heaven's fair face deforms,

Enwrapp'd in tempest and a night of storms;

Astonish'd ocean feels the wild uproar,

The refluent surges beat the sounding shore;

Or think as leaves in Autumn's golden reign,

Such, and so many, moves the warrior's train.

In bright array they seek the work of war,

Where high unfurl'd the ensign waves in air.

Shall I to Washington their praise recite?

Enough thou know'st them in the fields of fight.

Thee, first in peace and honors—we demand

The grace and glory of thy martial band.

Fam'd for thy valour, for thy virtues more,

Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!

   One century scarce perform'd its destined round,

When Gallic powers Columbia's fury found;

And so may you, whoever dares disgrace

The land of freedom's heaven-defended race!

Fix'd are the eyes of nations on the scales,

For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevails.

Anon Britannia droops the pensive head,

While round increase the rising hills of dead.

Ah! Cruel blindness to Columbia's state!

Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late.

   Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,

Thy ev'ry action let the Goddess guide.

A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,

With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine.