Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

By Phillis Wheatley.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Dedication
4. Preface
5. Letter to the Publisher
6. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
   1. To Maecenas
   2. On Virtue
   3. To the University of Cambridge, in New-England
   4. To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1768
   5. On Being Brought from Africa to America
   6. On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell. 1769
   7. On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. 1770
   8. On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age
   9. On the Death of a Young Gentleman
   10. To a Lady on the Death of Her Husband
   11. Goliath of Gath
   12. Thoughts on the Works of Providence
   13. To a Lady on the Death of Three Relations
   14. To a Clergyman on the Death of His Lady
   15. An Hymn to the Morning
   16. An Hymn to the Evening
   17. Isaiah 63:1–8
   18. On Recollection
   19. On Imagination
   20. A Funeral Poem on the Death of C. E. An Infant of Twelve Months
   21. To Captain H⸺d, of the 65th Regiment
   22. To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North-America, etc.
   23. Ode to Neptune
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
   24. To a Lady on Her Coming to North-America with Her Son, for the Recovery of Her Health
   25. To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina
   26. To a Lady and Her Children, on the Death of Her Son and Their Brother
   27. 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
   28. On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall. 1771
   29. To a Gentleman on His Voyage to Great-Britain for the Recovery of His Health
   30. To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory, on Reading His Sermons on Daily Devotion, in Which That Duty Is Recommended and Assisted
   31. On the Death of J. C. An Infant
   32. An Hymn to Humanity
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
   33. To the Honourable T. H. Esq.; On the Death of His Daughter
   34. 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
   35. To S. M. A Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works
   36. To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on the Death of His Lady. March 24, 1773
   37. A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W.
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
       4. IV
       5. V
       6. VI
       7. VII
       8. VIII
       9. IX
       10. X
       11. XI
       12. XII
       13. XIII
   38. A Rebus, by I. B.
       1. I
       2. II
       3. III
   39. An Answer to the Rebus, by the Author of These Poems
7. Endnotes
8. Colophon
9. Uncopyright

Imprint

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To the Right Honourable the
Countess of Huntingdon,
The following
Poems
Are most respectfully
Inscribed,
By her much obliged,
Very humble,
And devoted Servant,

Phillis Wheatley.

Boston, June 12, 1771.

Preface

The following poems were written originally for the amusement of the author, as they were the products of her leisure moments. She had no intention ever to have published them; nor would they now have made their appearance, but at the importunity of many of her best, and most generous friends; to whom she considers herself, as under the greatest obligations.

As her attempts in poetry are now sent into the world, it is hoped the critic will not severely censure their defects; and we presume they have too much merit to be cast aside with contempt, as worthless and trifling effusions.

As to the disadvantages she has laboured under, with regard to learning, nothing needs to be offered, as her master’s letter in the following page will sufficiently show the difficulties in this respect she had to encounter.

With all their imperfections, the poems are now humbly submitted to the perusal of the public.

Letter to the Publisher

The following is a copy of a letter sent by the author’s master to the publisher.

Phillis was brought from Africa to America, in the year 1761, between seven and eight years of age. Without any assistance from school education, and by only what she was taught in the family, she, in sixteen months time from her arrival, attained the English language, to which she was an utter stranger before, to such a degree, as to read any, the most difficult parts of the Sacred Writings, to the great astonishment of all who heard her.

As to her writing, her own curiosity led her to it; and this she learnt in so short a time, that in the year 1765, she wrote a letter to the Rev. Mr. Occom, the Indian Minister, while in England.

She has a great inclination to learn the Latin tongue, and has made some progress in it. This relation is given by her master who bought her, and with whom she now lives.

John Wheatley.

Boston, Nov. 14, 1772.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

To Maecenas

Maecenas, you, beneath the myrtle shade,
Read o’er what poets sung,