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University of Virginia Library

Poems of Phillis Wheatley

Revised and Enlarged Edition

Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784)

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

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Other Poems and Variants of Poems

ON MESSRS HUSSEY AND COFFIN.

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, WROTE IN 1767—

AN ADDRESS TO THE ATHEIST, BY P. WHEATLEY AT THE AGE OF 14 YEARS—1767—

AN ADDRESS TO THE DEIST—1767—

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY ON HIS REPEALING THE AMERICAN STAMP ACT

TO THE HON.ble COMMODORE HOOD ON HIS PARDONING A DESERTER

ON THE DEATH OF THE REV'D DR. SEWALL. 1769.—

ON THE DEATH OF MR SNIDER MURDER'D BY RICHARDSON

AN ELEGIAC POEM, On the DEATH of that celebrated Divine, and eminent Servant of JESUS CHRIST, the late Reverend, and pious GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon, &c &c. Who made his Exit from this transitory State, to dwell in the celestial Realms of Bliss, on LORD'S-DAY, 30th of September, 1770, when he was seiz'd with a Fit of the Asthma, at NEWBURY-PORT, near BOSTON, in NEW-ENGLAND. In which is a Condolatory Address to His truly noble Benefactress the worthy and pious Lady HUNTINGDON,—and the Orphan-Children in GEORGIA; who, with many Thousands, are left, by the Death of this great Man, to lament the Loss of a Father, Friend, and Benefactor.

AN ODE OF VERSES On the much-lamented Death of the REV. MR. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, Late Chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon; Who departed this Life, at Newberry near Boston in New England, on the Thirtieth of September, 1770, in the Fifty-seventh Year of his Age.

To Mrs. LEONARD, on the Death of her HUSBAND.

ON THE DEATH OF DR. SAMUEL MARSHALL

On the Death of Doctor SAMUEL MARSHALL.

To the Rev. Mr. Pitkin, on the DEATH of his LADY.

A POEM ON THE DEATH OF CHARLES ELIOT, AGED 12 MONTHS

TO THE RIGHT HON.l WILLIAM EARL OF DARTMOUTH, HIS MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NORTH AMERICA &.c &.c &.c

To the Hon'ble Thomas Hubbard, Esq; On the Death of Mrs. Thankfull Leonard.

FAREWELL TO AMERICA.

An ELEGY, To Miss. Mary Moorhead, on the DEATH of her Father, The Rev. Mr. JOHN MOORHEAD.

[TO A GENTLEMAN OF THE NAVY.]

PHILIS'S Reply to the Answer in our last by the Gentleman in the Navy.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON.

ON THE CAPTURE OF GENERAL LEE

ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOOSTER

AN ELEGY, SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THAT GREAT DIVINE, THE REVEREND AND LEARNED DR. SAMUEL COOPER, Who departed this Life December 29, 1783, ÆTATIS 59.

LIBERTY AND PEACE, A POEM.

An ELEGY on leaving ---.

To Mr. and Mrs. ---, on the Death of their Infant Son,

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153

FAREWELL TO AMERICA.

To Mrs. S--- W---. By Phillis Wheatley.

[_]

BOSTON, MAY 10, 1773 Saturday last Capt. Calef sailed for London, in [with] whom went Passengers Mr. Nathaniel Wheatley, Merchant; also, Phillis, the extraordinary Negro Poet, Servant to Mr. John Wheatley.

ADIEU New England's smiling Meads;
Adieu the flow'ry Plain,
I leave thy opening Charms, O Spring!
To try the Azure Reign.
In vain for me the Flow'rets rise
And show their gawdy Pride,
While here beneath the Northern Skies
I mourn for Health deny'd.
Thee, charming Maid! while I pursue
In thy luxuriant Reign;
And sigh and languish, thee to view,
Thy Pleasures to regain.
Susanna mourns, nor can I bear
To see the Christal Show'r
Fast falling—the indulgent Tear
In sad Departure's Hour.
Not unregarding lo! I see

154

Thy Soul with Grief oppress'd;
Ah! curb the rising Groan for me,
Nor Sighs disturb thy Breast.
In vain the feather'd Songsters sing,
In vain the Garden Blooms,
And on the Bosom of the Spring,
Breaths out her sweet Perfumes.
While for Britannia's distant Shore,
We sweep the liquid Plain,
Till Aura to the Arms restore
Of this belov'd Domain.
Lo! Health appears! Celestial Dame,
Complacent and serene,
With Hebe's Mantle o'er her Frame,
With Soul-delighting Mein.
Deep in a Vale where London lies,
With misty Vapours crown'd,
Which cloud Aurora's thousand Dyes,
And Veil her Charms around.
Why Phœbus! moves thy Car so slow,
So slow thy rising Ray;
Nor gives the mantled Town to View
Thee glorious King of Day!

155

But late from Orient Skies, behold!
He Shines benignly bright,
He decks his native Plains with Gold,
With chearing Rays of Light.
For thee Britannia! I resign
New-England's smiling Face,
To view again her Charms divine,
One short reluctant Space.
But thou Temptation! hence, away,
With all thy hated Train
Of Ills—nor tempt my Mind astray
From Virtue's sacred Strain.
Most happy! who with Sword and Shield
Is screen'd from dire Alarms,
And fell Temptation, on the Field,
Of fatal Power disarms.
But cease thy Lays, my Lute forbear
Nor frown my gentle Muse,
To see the secret falling Tear,
Nor pitying look refuse.