Poems by Phillis Wheatley

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Phillis Wheatley – Poems by Phillis Wheatley

In English

A Farewell To America. To Mrs. S. W.
ADIEU, New-England’s smiling meads,
Adieu, the flow’ry plain:
I leave thine op’ning charms, O spring, … Continue Reading …

A Funeral Poem On The Death Of C. E. An Infant Of Twelve Months
THROUGH airy roads he wings his instant flight
To purer regions of celestial light;
Enlarg’d he sees unnumber’d systems roll, … Continue Reading …

A Rebus, By I. B.
A BIRD delicious to the taste,
On which an army once did feast,
Sent by an hand unseen; … Continue Reading …

An Answer To The Rebus, By The Author Of These Poems
THE poet asks, and Phillis can’t refuse
To show th’ obedience of the Infant muse.
She knows the Quail of most inviting taste … Continue Reading …

An Hymn to Humanity. To S. P. G. Esq
LO! for this dark terrestrial ball
Forsakes his azure-paved hall
A prince of heav’nly birth! … Continue Reading …

An Hymn To The Evening
SOON as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav’nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr’s wing, … Continue Reading …

An Hymn To The Morning
ATTEND my lays, ye ever honour’d nine,
Assist my labours, and my strains refine;
In smoothest numbers pour the notes along, … Continue Reading …

Goliath Of Gath
YE martial pow’rs, and all ye tuneful nine,
Inspire my song, and aid my high design.
The dreadful scenes and toils of war I write, … Continue Reading …

Isaiah IXIII. 1-8
SAY, heav’nly muse, what king or mighty God,
That moves sublime from Idumea’s road?
In Bosrah’s dies, with martial glories join’d, … Continue Reading …

Niobe In Distress For Her Children Slain By Apollo, From Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book Vi. And From A View Of The Painting Of Mr. Richard Wilson
APOLLO’s wrath to man the dreadful spring
Of ills innum’rous, tuneful goddess, sing!
Thou who did’st first th’ ideal pencil give, … Continue Reading …

Ode to Neptune
WHILE raging tempests shake the shore,
While AElus’ thunders round us roar,
And sweep impetuous o’er the plain … Continue Reading …

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: … Continue Reading …

On Imagination
THY various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp
by thee! … Continue Reading …

On Recollection
MNEME begin. Inspire, ye sacred nine,
Your vent’rous Afric in her great design.
Mneme, immortal pow’r, I trace thy spring: … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of A Young Gentleman
WHO taught thee conflict with the pow’rs of night,
To vanquish satan in the fields of light?
Who strung thy feeble arms with might unknown, … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of A Young Lady Of Five Years Of Age
FROM dark abodes to fair etherial light
Th’ enraptur’d innocent has wing’d her flight;
On the kind bosom of eternal love … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of Dr. Samuel Marshall. 1771
THROUGH thickest glooms look back, immortal shade,
On that confusion which thy death has made:
Or from Olympus’ height look down, and see … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of J. C. An Infant
NO more the flow’ry scenes of pleasure rife,
Nor charming prospects greet the mental eyes,
No more with joy we view that lovely face … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of The Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769
ERE yet the morn its lovely blushes spread,
See Sewell number’d with the happy dead.
Hail, holy man, arriv’d th’ immortal shore, … Continue Reading …

On The Death Of The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. 1770
HAIL, happy saint, on thine immortal throne,
Possest of glory, life, and bliss unknown;
We hear no more the music of thy tongue, … Continue Reading …

On V i r t u e
O Thou bright jewel in my aim I strive
To comprehend thee. Thine own words declare
Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach. … Continue Reading …

Thoughts On The Works Of Providence
A R I S E, my soul, on wings enraptur’d, rise
To praise the monarch of the earth and skies,
Whose goodness and benificence appear… Continue Reading …

To A Clergyman On The Death Of His Lady
WHERE contemplation finds her sacred spring,
Where heav’nly music makes the arches ring,
Where virtue reigns unsully’d and divine, … Continue Reading …

To A Gentleman And Lady On The Death Of The Lady’s Brother And Sister, And A Child Of The Name Of Avis, Aged One Year
ON Death’s domain intent I fix my eyes,
Where human nature in vast ruin lies:
With pensive mind I search the drear abode, … Continue Reading …

To A Gentleman On His Voyage To Great-Britain For The Recovery Of His Health
WHILE others chant of gay Elysian scenes,
Of balmy zephyrs, and of flow’ry plains,
My song more happy speaks a greater name, … Continue Reading …

To A Lady And Her Children, On The Death Of Her Son And Their Brother
O’ERWHELMING sorrow now demands my song:
From death the overwhelming sorrow sprung.
What flowing tears? What hearts with grief opprest? … Continue Reading …

To A Lady On Her Coming To North-America With Her Son, For The Recovery Of Her Health
INDULGENT muse! my grov’ling mind inspire,
And fill my bosom with celestial fire.
See from Jamaica’s fervid shore she moves, … Continue Reading …

To A Lady On Her Remarkable Preservation In An Hurricane In North-Carolina
THOUGH thou did’st hear the tempest from afar,
And felt’st the horrors of the wat’ry war,
To me unknown, yet on this peaceful shore … Continue Reading …

To A Lady On The Death Of Her Husband
GRIM monarch! see, depriv’d of vital breath,
A young physician in the dust of death:
Dost thou go on incessant to destroy, … Continue Reading …

To A Lady On The Death Of Three Relations
WE trace the pow’r of Death from tomb to tomb,
And his are all the ages yet to come.
’Tis his to call the planets from on high, … Continue Reading …

To Captain H———D, Of The 65th Regiment
SAY, muse divine, can hostile scenes delight
The warrior’s bosom in the fields of fight?
Lo! here the christian and the hero join … Continue Reading …

To His Honour The Lieutenant-Governor, On The Death Of His Lady. March 24, 1773
ALL-Conquering Death! by thy resistless pow’r,
Hope’s tow’ring plumage falls to rise no more!
Of scenes terrestrial how the glories fly, … Continue Reading …

To Maecenas
MAECENAS, you, beneath the myrtle shade,
Read o’er what poets sung, and shepherds play’d.
What felt those poets but you feel the same? … Continue Reading …

To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works
TO show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent,
And thought in living characters to paint,
When first thy pencil did those beauties give, … Continue Reading …

To The Honourable T. H. Esq; On The Death Of His Daughter
WHILE deep you mourn beneath the cypress-shade
The hand of Death, and your dear daughter laid
In dust, whose absence gives your tears to flow, … Continue Reading …

To The King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1768
YOUR subjects hope, dread Sire—
The crown upon your brows may flourish long,
And that your arm may in your God be strong! … Continue Reading …

To The Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory, On Reading His Sermons On Daily Devotion, In Which That Duty Is Recommended And Assisted
TO cultivate in ev’ry noble mind
Habitual grace, and sentiments refin’d,
Thus while you strive to mend the human heart, … Continue Reading …

To The Right Honourable William, Earl Of Dartmouth
HAIL, happy day, when, smiling like the morn,
Fair Freedom rose New-England to adorn:
The northern clime beneath her genial ray, … Continue Reading …

To The University Of Cambridge, In New-England
YOUR subjects hope, dread Sire—
The crown upon your brows may flourish long,
And that your arm may in your God be strong! … Continue Reading …

Bilingual

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Phillis Wheatley – Poems by Phillis Wheatley