Phillis Wheatley

“ And thine the sceptre o'er the realms of thought;
Before thy throne the subject passions bow,
Of subject-passions sov'reign ruler Thou;
At thy command joy rushes on the heart,
And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.
⁠Fancy might now her silken pinions try
To rise from earth, and sweep the expanse on high;
From Tithon's bed now might Aurora rise,
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dyes,
While a pure stream of light o'erflows the skies. ”

“ Heaven quakes, earth trembles, and the shores resound.
Great Sire of verse, before my mortal eyes
The lightnings blaze across the vaulted skies;
And as the thunder shakes the heavenly plains,
A deep-felt horror thrills through all my veins.
When gentler strains demand thy graceful song,
The lengthening line moves languishing along,
When great Patroclus courts Achilles' aid,
The grateful tribute of my tears is paid:
Prone on the shore, he feels the pangs of love,
And stern Pelides' tenderest passions move. ”

“ The obedient plough-horse may, devoid of fear,
Perform his task with joy, when thou art near.
As at the Lion's dread alarming roar,
The inferior beasts will never wander more,
Lest unawares he should be seized away,
And to the prowling monster fall a prey,
With silent pleasure often do I trace
The fly upon the wing, with rapid pace,
The fugitive proclaims upon the wind,
The death-bound sheriff is not far behind. ”

“ Away with an angelic smile it has gone,
⁠And left a sad parent to weep!
It soars from the ocean of pain,
⁠On breezes of precious perfume;
O be not discouraged when death is but gain—
⁠The triumph of life from the tomb. ”

“ In vain; to earth thou never must return.
Thy sisters, too , fair mourner, feel the dart
Of death, and with fresh torture rend thine heart.
Weep not for them, who wish thine happy mind
To rise with them and leave the world behind. ”

“ With all thy fatal train,
Nor once seduce my soul away,
By thine enchanting strain.
Thrice happy they, whose heavenly shield
Secures their soul from harms,
And fell Temptation on the field
Of all its power disarms! ”

“ She thus expressed her anger and surprise:
"Why is such privilege to them allowed?
"Why thus insulted by the Delian god?
"Dwells there such mischief in the powers above?
"Why sleeps the vengeance of immortal Jove?"
For now Amphion, too, with grief oppressed,
Had plunged the deadly dagger in his breast.
Niobe now, less haughty than before,
With lofty head directs her steps no more.
She, who late told her pedigree divine,
And drove the Thebans from Latona's shrine,
How strangely changed! yet beautiful in woe,
She weeps, nor weeps unpitied by the foe. ”

“ New-England deeply feels, the orphans mourn,
Their more than father will no more return.
But though arrested by the hand of death,
Whitefield no more exerts his lab'ring breath,
Yet let us view him in the eternal skies,
Let ev'ry heart to this bright vision rise;
While the tomb, safe, retains its sacred trust,
Till life divine reanimates his dust. ”

“ The blood in gushing torrents drenched the plains,
The soul found passage through the spouting veins.
And now aloud the illustrious victor said,
"Where are your boastings, now your champion's dead?"
Scarce had he spoke, when the Philistines fled;
But fled in vain; the conqueror swift pursued:
What scenes of slaughter, and what pens of blood!
There, Saul, thy thousands grasped the empurpled sand
In pangs of death, the conquest of thine hand ”

“ And vegetation smiles above the blast.
'T was like the evening of a nuptial pair,
When love pervades the hour of sad despair—
'Twas like fair Helen's sweet return to Troy,
When every Grecian bosom swell'd with joy. ”

“ And wilt thou, love, my soul display,
And all my secret thoughts betray?
I strove, but could not hold thee fast,
My heart flies off with thee at last.
The favorite daughter of the dawn,
On love's mild breeze will soon be gone ”

“ Dartmouth! congratulates thy blissful sway;
Elate with hope, her race no longer mourns,
Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns,
While in thine hand with pleasure we behold
The silken reins, and Freedom's charms unfold. ”

“ Whose flight to her soul must be bitter.
She looks like the twilight, her sun sunk away,
He sets; but to rise again never!
Like the Eve, with a blush bids farewell to the day,
And darkness conceals her forever. ”

“ Creation fires my tongue!
Nature thy anthems raise;
And spread the universal song
Of thy Creator's praise!
Heaven's chief delight was Man
Before Creation's birth—
Ordained with joy to lead the van,
And reign the lord of earth. ”

“ Will the world my pains deride
⁠Forever?
Must I dwell in Slavery's night,
And all pleasure take its flight,
Far beyond my feeble sight,
⁠Forever?
Worst of all, must hope grow dim,
And withhold her cheering beam? ”

“ With watchful care he broods his heart away
'Till night is swallowed in the flood of day.
The meteors cease to play, that mov'd so fleet,
And spectres from the murky groves retreat,
The prowling wolf withdraws, which howl'd so bold,
And bleating flocks may venture from the fold.
The night-hawk's din deserts the shepherd's ear,
Succeeded by the huntsman's trumpet clear,
O come Diana, start the morning chase
Thou ancient goddess of the hunting race. ”

“ Thy Leonard mounts, and leaves the earth behind.
Thyself prepare to pass the vale of night,
To join forever on the hills of light.
To thine embrace his joyful spirit moves,
To thee, the partner of his earthly loves;
He welcomes thee to pleasures more refined,
And better suited to the immortal mind. ”

“ And when from balmy sleep thou op'st thine eyes,
Let thy first thoughts be praises to the skies.
How merciful our God, who thus imparts
O'erflowing tides of joy to human hearts,
When wants and woes might be our righteous lot,
Our God forgetting, by our God forgot! ”

“ And spurns the balm which constitutes her sleep;
Her plaintive murmurs float upon the gale,
And almost make the stubborn rocks bewail.
O what is like the awful breach of death,
Whose fatal stroke invades the creature's breath!
It bids the voice of desolation roll,
And strikes the deepest awe within the bravest soul. ”

“ And darkness ends in everlasting day,
On what seraphic pinions shall we move,
And view the landscapes in the realms above!
There shall thy tongue in heavenly murmurs flow,
And there my muse with heavenly transport glow ”

“ The pealing thunder shook the heavenly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats. ”

“ Bright seraphs now stand on the banks to receive thee,
⁠And cry, "Happy stranger, thou art welcome at home."
Thou art gone to a feast, while thy friends are bewailing,
⁠Oh, death is a song to the poor ransom'd slave;
Away with bright visions the spirit goes sailing,
⁠And leaves the frail body to rest in the grave.
Rebecca is free from the pains of oppression,
⁠No friends could prevail with her longer to stay;
She smiles on the fields of eternal fruition,
⁠Whilst death like a bridegroom attends her away.
She is gone in the whirlwind—ye seraphs attend her ”

“ What sighs on sighs heave the fond parent's breast!
The brother weeps, the hapless sisters join
The increasing woe, and swell the crystal brine;
The poor, who once his generous bounty fed,
Droop and bewail their benefactor dead. ”

“ Never, till death's resistless blow,
⁠Whose call the dearest must obey—
In twain together then may go,
⁠And thus together dwell for aye.
Say to the suitor, Come away.
⁠Nor break the knot which love has tied—
Nor to the world thy trust betray,
⁠And fly forever from thy bride. ”

“ And thus I hear her from the realms above:
"Lo this the kingdom of celestial love!
"Could ye, fond parents, see our present bliss,
"How soon would you each sigh, each fear dismiss!
"Amidst unuttered pleasures whilst I play
"In the fair sunshine of celestial day,
"As far as grief affects a happy soul,
"So far doth grief my better mind control,
"To see on earth my aged parents mourn,
"And secret wish for T———l to return:
"Let brighter scenes your evening hours employ:
"Converse with heaven, and taste the promised joy." ”

“ Great God! incomprehensible, unknown
By sense, we bow at thine exalted throne.
Oh, while we beg thine excellence to feel,
Thy sacred Spirit to our hearts reveal,
And give us of that mercy to partake,
Which thou hast promised for the Saviour's sake! ”

“ One only daughter lives, and she the least;
The queen close clasped the daughter to her breast.
"Ye heavenly powers, ah! spare me one," she cried.
"Ah! spare me one," the vocal hills replied
In vain she begs, the Fates her suit deny;
In her embrace she sees her daughter die. ”

“ The sire of Gods and men addressed,
"My son, my heavenly fair!
"Descend to earth, there place thy throne
"To succor man's afflicted son,
"Each human heart inspire:
"To act in bounties unconfined,
"Enlarge the close contracted mind,
"And fill it with thy fire." ”

“ Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain,
Why would you wish your daughter back again?
No—bow resigned; let hope your grief control,
And check the rising tumult of the soul.
Calm in the prosperous and adverse day,
Adore tho God who gives and takes away ”

“ Which long has cooed for thee,
And breathed her notes from Afric's grove,
The sound of Liberty.
Oh, Liberty! thou golden prize,
So often sought by blood—
We crave thy sacred sun to rise,
The gift of nature's God! ”

“ Thebes trembled as the immortal powers alight.
With clouds encompassed, glorious Phœbus stands,
The feathered vengeance quivering in his hands.
Near Cadmus' walls a plain extended lay,
Where Thebes' young princes passed in sport the day;
There the bold coursers bounded o'er the plains,
While their great masters held the golden reins.
Ismenus first, the racing pastime led,
And ruled the fury of his flying steed.
"Ah me!" he sudden cries, with shrieking breath,
While in his breast he feels the shaft of death ”

“ Thou world of heat—thou vital source,
The torpid insects feel thy force,
⁠Which all with life supplies;
Gardens and orchards richly bloom,
And send a gale of sweet perfume,
⁠To invite them as they rise. ”

“ And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze the unbounded soul. ”

“ Clings round his mother's neck, and weeps his sorrow there.
The loss of thee on Tyler's soul returns,
And Boston for her dear physician mourns.
⁠When sickness called for Marshall's healing hand,
With what compassion did his soul expand!
In him we found the father and the friend:
In life how loved! how honored in his end!
⁠And must not then our Æsculapius stay,
To bring his lingering infant into day?
The babe unborn in the dark womb is tost,
And seems in anguish for its father lost. ”

“ Of balmy zephyrs, and of flowery plains,
My song, more happy, speaks a greater name,
Feels higher motives and a nobler flame.
For thee, Oh R———, the Muse attunes her strings,
And mounts sublime above inferior things. ”

“ Observes the question, and serene replies:
"In heaven's high palaces your babe appears;
"Prepare to meet him and dismiss your tears."
Shall not the intelligence your grief restrain,
And turn the mournful to the cheerful strain?
Cease your complaints, suspend each rising sigh,
Cease to accuse the Ruler of the sky. ”

“ To him the king: "Say, of what martial line
"Art thou, young hero, and what sire was thine?"
He humbly thus: "The son of Jesse, I;
"I came the glories of the field to try.
"Small is my tribe, but valiant in the fight;
"Small is my city, but thy royal right"
"Then take the promised gifts," the monarch cry'd,
Conferring riches and the royal bride.
"Knit to my soul, forever thou remain
"With me, nor quit my regal roof again. ”

“ The warmest blessings which a Muse can give,
And when this transitory state is o'er,
When kingdoms fall, and fleeting Fame's no more,
May Amory triumph in immortal fame,
A nobler title and superior name! ”

“ Like the fair mother of the blooming loves,
When from above the Goddess, with her hand,
Fans the soft breeze, and lights upon the land;
Thus she, on Neptune's watery realm reclined,
Appeared, and thus invites the lingering wind.
⁠"Arise, ye winds, America explore,
"Waft me, ye gales, from this malignant shore;
"The northern milder climes I long to greet,
"There, hope that health will my arrival meet."
⁠Soon as she spoke, in my ideal view,
The winds assented, and the vessel flew.
Madam, your spouse, bereft of wife and son,
In the grove's dark recesses pours his moan ”

“ Which deck thy progress through the vaulted skies
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
On ev'ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays;
Harmonious lays the feathered race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted plume. ”

“ Seven daughters, beauteous as the rising morn,
As when Aurora fills the ravished sight,
And decks the orient realms with rosy light,
From their bright eyes the living splendors play,
Nor can beholders bear the flashing ray. ”

“ Whose voice the timid creatures dread,
⁠From which they strive with awe to fly.
The night-hawk ventures from his cell,
⁠And starts his note in evening air;
He feels the heat his bosom swell,
⁠Which drives away the gloom of fear. ”

“ On the Death of his Lady, March 24th, 1773.
All conquering Death? by thy resistless power,
Hope's tow'ring plumage falls to rise no more!
Of scenes terrestrial how the glories fly,
Forget their splendors and submit to die! ”

“ But howls in anguish and repents too late.
⁠But oh! what peace, what joys are hers to impart
To ev'ry holy, ev'ry upright heart!
Thrice blest the man, who, in her sacred shrine,
Feels himself sheltered from the wrath divine! ”