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Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784) Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06154 Author/Creator: Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784) Place Written: London, England Type: Book Date: 1773 Pagination: 1 v. : 124 p. ; 18 x 12.3 cm. Order a Copy

Poems written by the "Negro Servant" of John Wheatley of Boston. Printed at London by A. Bell and sold in Boston by Cox and Berry. First edition copy. The first book of poetry by an African American. Bound in nineteenth century vellum, with heraldic bookplate with the name "Stainforth." With frontispiece engraved portrait of Wheatley writing. Dedication to Countess of Huntington on 12 June 1773. Phillis Wheatley was brought from Africa at the age of seven or eight, taught to read and write (in the family), and eventually began to write poetry, as her master describes in the prefatory material. Contains 39 poems, none of which are over 225 lines. Three pages of contents at the end. Pages have gilt edges.

Phillis Wheatley, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral"
Printed in London, First Edition, 1773.
Book, 124 pages.

[Draft Created by Crowdsourcing]
Rebound 1840s?
very large copy

[engraving of coat of arms]
NON DEFICIT ALTER
Stainforth
[2]
PHILLIS WHEATLEY, NEGRO SERVANT to MR. JOHN WHEATLEY, of BOSTON.
[engraving of Phillis Wheatley]
Published according to Act of Parliament, Septr 1st, 1773 by Archd Bell.
Bookseller No. 8 near the Saracens Head Aldgate.

[3]
POEMS
ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS,
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL.
By
PHILLIS WHEATLEY,
NEGRO SERVANT to Mr. JOHN WHEATLEY,
of BOSTON, in NEW ENGLAND.

LONDON:
Printed for A.BELL, Bookseller, Aldgate; and sold by Messrs. COX and BERY, King-Street, BOSTON.
M DCC LXIII

[4]
Entered at Stationers Hall.

[5]
DEDICATION.
To the Right Honourable the
COUNTESS OF HUNTINGTON,
THE FOLLOWING
POEMS
Are most respectfully
Inscribed,
By her much obliged,
Very humble,
And devoted Servant,
Phillis Wheatley.

Boston, June 12, 1773.

[6]
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

[7]
PREFACE. v

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 Masters Letter in the following Page will sufficiently shew 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. The

[8]
The following is a Copy of a LETTER sent by the Authors 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.

[9]
To the PUBLICK.

AS it has been repeatedly suggested to the Publisher, by Persons, who have seen the Manuscript, that Numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the Writings of PHILLIS, he has procured the following Attestation, from the most respectable Characters in Boston, that none might have the least Ground for disputing their Original.
WE whose Names are under-written, do assure the World, that the POEMS specified in the following Page, * were (as we verily believe) written by PHILLIS, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years since, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the Disadvantage of serving as a Slave in a Family in this Town. She has been examined by some of the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them.

His Excellency THOMAS HUTCINSON, Governor,
The Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Lieutenant-Governor.

The Hon. Thomas Hubbard, | The Rev. Charles Cheuney, D. D.
The Hon. John Erving, | The Rev. Mather Byles, D. D.
The Hon. James Pitts, | The Rev. Ed. Pemberton, D. D.
The Hon. Harrison Gray, | The Rev. Andrew Elliot, D. D.
The Hon. James Bowdoin, | The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D. D.
John Hancock, Esq; | The Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather,
Joseph Green, Esq; | The Rev. Mr. Joon Moorhead,
Richard Carey, Esq; | Mr. John Wheatley, her Master

N. B. The Original Attestation, signed by the above Gentlemen, may be seen by applying to Archibald Bell, Bookseller, No. 8, Aldgate-Street.

* The Words "following Page," allude to the Contents of the Manuscript Copy, which are wrote at the Back of the above Attestation.

[10]
POEMS
ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

To MÆCANAS.

MÆCANAS, you, beneath the myrtle
shade,
Read o'er what poets sung, and shepherds play'd.
What felt those poets but you feel the same?
Does not your soul possess the sacred flame?
Their noble strains your equal genius shares 5
In softer language, and diviner airs.
While ''Homer'' paints lo! circumfuse'd in air,
Celestial Gods in mortal forms appear;
Swift

[11]
10 POEMS ON
Swift as they move hear and recess rebound,
Heav'n quakes, earth trembles, and the shore re-
sound. 10
Great Sire of the verse, before my mortal eyes,
The lightnings blaze across the vaulted skies,
And, as the thunder shakes the heav'nly plains,
A deep-felt horror thrills through all my veins.
When gentler strains demand they graceful song, 15
The length'ning 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 tend'rest passions move. 20

Great Maro's strain in heav'nly numbers flows,
The Nine inspire, and all of the bosom glows.
O could I rival thine and Virgil's page,
Or claim the Muses with the Mantuan Sage;
Soon the same beauties should my mind adorn, 25
And the same ardors in my soul should burn:
Then should my song in bolder notes arise,
And all my numbers pleasingly surprize;
But

[12]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 11
But here I sit, and mourn a grov'ling mind,
That fain would mount, and ride upon the wind.
Not you, my friend, these plaintive strains be-
come,
Not you, whose bosom is the Muses home;
When they come from tow'ring Helicon retire,
They fan in you the bright immortal fire,
But I less happy, cannot raise the song, 35
The fault'ring music dies upon my tongue.

The happier Terence * all the choir inspir'd
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race; 40
From age to age transmitting thus his name
With the first glory in the rolls of fame?

Thy virtues, great Mæcenas! Shall be sung
In praise of him, from whom those virtues spring:
While

* He was an African by birth.

[13]
12 POEMS ON
While blooming wreaths around thy temples
spread, 45
I'll snatch a laurel from thine honour'd head,
While you indulgent smile upon the deed.

As long as Thames in streams majestic flows,
Or Naiads in their oozy beds repose,
While Phœbus reigns above the starry train, 50
While bright Aurora purples o'er the main,
So long, great Sir, the muse thy praise shall sing,
So long thy praise shall make Parnassus ring:
Then grant, Mæcenas, thy paternal rays,
Hear me propitious, and defend my lays. 55

ON

[14]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 13
ON VIRTUE.
O Thou bright jewel in my aim I strive
To comprehend thee. Thine own words
declare
Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach.
I cease to wonder, and no more attempt
Thine height t' explore, or fathom thy profound. 5
But, O my soul, sink not into despair,
Virtue is near thee, and with a gentle hand
Would now embrace thee, hovers o'er thine head.
Fain would the heav'n-born soul with her converse,
Then seek, then court her for her promis'd bliss.

Auspicious queen, thine heav'nly pinions spread,
And lead celestial Chastity along;
Lo! now her sacred retinue descends,
Array'd in glory from the orbs above.
Attend me, Virtue, thro' my youthful years! 15
O leave me not to the false joys of time!
But guide my steps to endless life and bliss.
Greatness,

[15]
14 POEMS ON
Greatness, or Goodness, say what I shall call thee,
To give an higher appellation still,
Teach me a better strain, a nobler lay, 20
O thou, enthron'd with Cherubs in the realms of
day!

TO

[16]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 15
TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE,
IN NEW-ENGLAND.

WHILE an intrinsic ardor prompts to write,
The muses promise to assist my pen;
'Twas not long since I left my native shore
The land of errors, and Egyptian gloom:
Father of mercy, 'twas thy gracious hand 5
Brought me in safety from those dark abodes.
Students, to you 'tis giv'n to scan the heights
Above, to traverse the ethereal space,
And mark the systems of revolving worlds.
Still more, ye sons of science ye receive 10
The blissful news by messengers from heav'n,
How Jesus' blood for your redemption flows.
See him with hands out-stretcht upon the cross;
Immense compassion in his bosom glows;
He hears revilers, nor resents their scorn: 15
What matchless mercy in the Son of God!
When the whole human race by sin had fall'n,
He

[17]
16 POEMS ON
He deign'd to die that they might rise again,
And share with him in the sublimest skies,
Life without death, and glory without end. 20

Improve your privileges while they stay,
Ye pupils, and each hour redeem, that bears
Or good or bad report of you to heav'n.
Let sin, that baneful evil to the foul,
By you beshunn'd, nor once remit your guard; 25
Suppress the deadly serpent in its egg.
Ye blooming plants of human race divine,
An Ethiop tells you 'tis your greatest foe;
Its transient sweetness turns to endless pain,
And in immense perdition sinks the soul. 30

TO

[18]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 17
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!
= =
O may your sceptre num'rous nations sway,
And all with love and readiness obey!

But how shall we the British king reward! 5
Rule thou in peace, our father, and our lord!
Midst the remembrance of thy favours past,
The meanest peasants most admire the last. *
May George, belov'd by all the nations round,
Live with heav'ns choicest constant blessings
crown'd! 10
Great God, direct, and guard him from on high,
And from his head let ev'ry evil fly!
And may each clime with equal gladness see
A monarch's smile can set his subjects free!

On
* The Repeal of the Stamp Act.

[19]
18 POEMS ON
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 sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye, 5
"Their color is a diabolic die,"
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd and join th' angelic train.

On

[20]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 19
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,
Though we shall hear thy warning voice no more.
Come, let us all behold with wishful eyes 5
The saint ascending to his native skies;
From hence the prophet wing'd his rapt'rous way
To the blest mansions in eternal day.
Then begging for the Spirit of our God,
And panting eager for the same abode, 10
Come, let us all with the same vigour rise,
And take a prospect of the blissful skies;
While on our minds Christ's image is imprest,
And the dear Saviour glows in ev'ry breast.
Thrice happy saint! to find thy heav'n at last, 15
What compensation for the evils past!
Great

[21]
20 POEMS ON
Great God, incomprehensible, unknown
By sense, we bow at thine exalted throne.
O, while we beg thine excellence to feel,
Thy sacred Spirit to our hearts reveal, 20
And give us of that mercy to partake,
Which thou hast promis'd for the Saviour's safe!

"Sewell is dead." Swift-pinion'd Fame thus
cry'd.
"Is Sewell dead," my trembling tongue reply'd,
O what a blessing in his flight deny'd! 25
How oft for us the holy prophet pray'd!
How oft to us the Word of Life convey'd!
By duty urg'd my mournful verse to close,
I for his tomb this epitaph compose.

"Lo, here a man, redeem'd by Jesus' blood, 30
"A sinner once, but now a saint with God;
"Behold ye rich, ye poor, ye fools, ye wise,
"Nor let his monument your heart surprize;
"'Twill tell you what this holy man has done,
"Which gives him brighter lustre than the sun.
"Listen,

[22]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS 21
"Listen, ye happy, from your seats above.
"I speak sincerely, while I speak and love,
"He fought the paths of piety and truth,
"By these made happy from his early youth!
"In blooming years that grace divine he felt, 40
"Which rescues sinners from the chains of guilt.
"Mourn him, ye indigent, whom he has fed,
"And henceforth seek, like him, for living bread;
"Ev'n Christ, the bread descending from above,
"And ask an int'rest in his saving love. 45
"Mourn him, ye youth, to whom he oft has told
"God's gracious wonders from the times of old.
"I, too have cause this mighty loss to mourn,
"For he my monitor will not return.
"O when shall we to his blest state arrive? 50
"When the same graces in our bosoms thrive."

On

[23]
22 POEMS ON
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,
Thy wonted auditories cease to throng.
Thy sermons in unequall'd accents flow'd, 5
And ev'ry bosom with devotion glow'd;
Thou didst in strains of eloquence refin'd
Inflame the heart, and captivate the mind.
Unhappy we the setting sun deplore,
So glorious once, but ah! it shines no more. 10

Behold the prophet in his tow'ring flight!
He leaves the earth for heav'n's unmeasur'd
height,
And worlds unknown receive him from our sight.
There Whitefield wings with rapid course his way,
And fails to Zion through vast seas of day. 15
Thy pray'rs, great saint, and thine incessant cries
Have pierc'd the bosom of thy native skies.
Thou

[24]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 23
Thou moon hast seen, and all the stars of light,
How he has wrestled with his God by night.
He pray'd that grace in ev'ry heart might dwell, 20
He long'd to see America excel;
He charg'd its youth that ev'ry grace divine
Should with full lustre in their conduct shine;
That Saviour, which his soul did first receive,
The greatest gift that ev'n a God can give, 25
He freely offer'd to the num'rous throng,
That on his lips with list'ning pleasure hung.

"Take him, ye wretched, for your only good,
"Take him ye starving sinners, for your food;
"Ye thirsty, come to this life-giving stream, 30
"Ye preachers, take him for your joyful theme;
"Take him my dear Americans, he said,
"Be your complaints on his kind bosom laid:
"Take him, ye Africans, he longs for you,
''Impartial Saviour is his title due: 35
"Wash'd in the fountain of redeeming blood,
"You shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God."
Great

[25]
24 POEMS ON
Great Countess, * we Americans revere
Thy name, and mingle in thy grief sincere;
New England deeply feels, the ''Orphans'' mourn, 40
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 th' eternal skies,
Let ev'ry heart to this bright vision rise; 45
While the tomb safe retains its sacred trust,
Till life divine re-animates his dust.

On

* The Countess of Huntingdon, to whom Mr. Whitefield was Chaplain.

[26]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 25
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
She finds unknown beatitude above.
This know, ye parents, nor her loss deplore, 5
She feels the iron hand of pain no more;
The dispensations of unerring grace,
Should turn your sorrows into grateful praise;
Let them no tears for her henceforward flow,
No more distress'd in our dark vale below. 10

Her morning sun, which rose divinely bright,
Was quickly mantled with the gloom of night;
But hear in heav'n's blest bow'rs your Nancy fair,
And learn to imitate her language there.
"Thou, Lord, whom I behold with glory crown'd,
"By what sweet name, and in what tuneful sound
"Wilt

[27]
26 POEMS ON
"Wilt thou be prais'd? Seraphic pow'rs are faint
"Infinite love and majesty to paint.
"To thee let all their grateful voices raise,
"And saints and angels join their songs of
"praise." 20

Perfect in bliss she from her heav'nly home
Looks down, and smiling beckons you to come;
Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans?
Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans.
Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain, 25
Why would you wish your daughter back again?
No-bow resign'd. Let hope your grief control,
And check the rising tumult of the soul.
Calm in the prosperous, and adverse day,
Adore the God who gives and takes away; 30
Eye him in all, his holy name revere,
Upright your actions, and your hearts sincere,
Till having fail'd through life's tempestuous sea,
And from its rocks, and boist'rous billows free,
Yourselves, safe landed on the blissful shore, 35
Shall join your happy babe to part no more.

On

[28]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 27
On the Death of a young Gentleman.

WHO taught thee conflict with the pow'rs
of night,
To vanquish Satan in the fields of fight?
Who strung thy feeble arms with might unknown,
How great thy conquest, and how bright thy
crown!
War with each princedom, throne, and pow'r
is o'er, 5
The scene is ended to return no more.
O could my muse thy seat on high behold,
How deckt with laurel, how enrich'd with gold!
O could she hear what praise thine harp em-
ploys,
How sweet thine anthems, how divine thy joys! 10
What heav'nly grandeur should exalt her strain!
What holy raptures in her numbers reign!
To sooth the troubles of the mind to peace,
To still the tumult of life's tossing seas,
To

[29]
28 POEMS ON
To ease the anguish of the parents heart, 15
What shall my sympathizing verse impart?
Where is the balm to heal so deep a wound?
Where shall a sov'reign remedy be found?
Look, gracious Spirit, from thine heav'nly bow'r,
And thy full joys into their bosoms pour; 20
The raging tempest of their grief control,
And spread the dawn of glory through the soul,
To eye the path the saint departed trod,
And trace him to the bosom of his God.

To

[30]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 29
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,
Our griefs to double, and lay waste our joy?
Enough thou never yet wast known to say, 5
Though millions die, the vassals of thy sway:
Nor youth, nor science, nor the ties of love,
Nor aught on earth thy flinty heart can move.
The friend, the spouse from his dire dart to save,
In vain we ask the sovereign of the grave. 10
Fair mourner, there see thy lov'd Leonard laid,
And o'er him spread the deep impervious shade;
Clos'd are his eyes, and heavy fetters keep
His senses bound in never-waking sleep,
Till time shall cease, till many a starry world 15
Shall fall from heav'n, in dire confusion hurl'd,
Till nature in her final wreck shall lie,
And her last groan shall rend the azure sky:
Not

[31]
30 POEMS ON
Not, not till then his active soul shall claim
His body, a divine immortal frame. 20

But see the softly-stealing tears apace
Pursue each other down the mourner's face;
But cease thy tears, bid ev'ry sigh depart,
And cast the load of anguish from thine heart:
From the cold shell of his great soul arise, 25
And look beyond, thou native of the skies;
There fix thy view, where fleeter than the wind
Thy Leonard mounts, and leaves the earth behind.
Thyself prepare to pass the vale of night
To join for ever on the hills of light: 30
To thine embrace his joyful spirit moves
To thee, the partner of his early loves;
He welcomes thee to pleasures more refin'd,
And better suited to th' immortal mind,

GOLI-
[32]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 31
GOLIATH OF GATH.
I SAM. Chap. xvii.

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,
The ardent warriors, and the fields of fight:
You best remember, and you best can sing 5
The acts of heroes to the vocal string:
Resume the lays with which your sacred lyre,
Did then the poet and the sage inspire.

Now front to front the armies were display'd,
Here Israel rang'd, and there the foes array'd; 10
The hosts on two opposing mountains stood,
Thick as the foliage of the waving wood;
Between them an extensive valley lay,
O'er which the gleaming armor pour'd the day,
When from the camp of the Philistine foes, 15
Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose;
In the dire deeds of bleeding battle skill'd,
The monster stalks the terror of the field.
From

[33]
32 POEMS ON
From Gath he sprung, Goliath was his name,
Of fierce deportment, and gigantic frame: 20
A brazen helmet on his head was plac'd,
A coat of mail his form terrific grac'd,
The greaves his legs, the targe his shoulders prest:
Dreadful in arms high-tow'ring o'er the rest
A spear he proudly wav'd whose iron head, 25
Strange to relate, six hundred shekels weigh'd;
He strode along, and shook the ample field,
While Phœbus blaz'd refulgent on his shield:
Through Jacob's race a chilling horror ran,
When thus the huge, enormous chief began: 30

"Say, what the cause that in this proud array
"You set your battle in the face of day?
"One hero find in all your vaunting train,
"Then see who loses, and who wins the plain;
"For he who wins, in triumph may demand 35
"Perpetual service from the vanquish'd land:
"Your armies I defy, your force despise,
"By far inferior in ''Philistia's'' eyes:
"Produce

[34]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 33
"Produce a man, and let us try the fight,
"Decide the contest, and the victor's right." 40

Thus challeng'd he: all Israel stood amaz'd,
And ev'ry chief in consternation gaz'd;
But Jesse's son in youthful bloom appears,
And warlike courage far beyond his years:
He left the folds, he left the flow'ry meads, 45
And soft recesses of the sylvan shades.
Now Israel's monarch, and his troops arise, }
With peals of shouts ascending to the skies; }
In Elah's vale the scene of combat lies. }

When the fair morning blush'd with orient
red, 50
What David's fire enjoin'd the son obey'd,
And swift of foot towards the trench he came,
Where glow'd each bosom with the martial flame.
He leaves his carriage to another's care,
And runs to greet his brethren of the war. 55
While yet they spake the giant-chief arose,
Repeats the challenge, and insults his foes;
Struck

[35]
34 POEMS ON
Struck with the sound, and trembling at the view,
Affrighted Israel from its post withdrew.
"Observe ye this tremendous foe, they cry'd, 60
"Who in proud vaunts our armies hath defy'd:
"Whoever lays him prostrate on the plain,
"Freedom in Israel for his house shall gain;
"And on him wealth unknown the king will pour,
"And give his royal daughter for his dow'r." 65

Then Jesse's youngest hope: "My brethren
"say,
"What shall be done for him who takes away
"Reproach from Jacob, who destroys the chief,
"And puts a period to his country's grief.
"He vaunts the honors of his arms abroad, 70
"And scorns the armies of the living God."

Thus spoke the youth, th' attentive people ey'd
The wond'rous hero, and again reply'd:
"Such the rewards our monarch will bestow,
"On him who conquers, and destroys his foe." 75
Eliab

[36]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 35
Eliab heard, and kindled into ire
To hear his shepherd brother thus inquire,
And thus begun? "What errand bright thee?
"say
"Who keeps thy flock? or does it go astray?
"I know the base ambition of thine heart, 80
"But back in safety from the field depart."

''Eliab thus to Jesse's youngest heir,
Express'd his wrath in accents most severe.
When to his brother mildly he reply'd,
"What have I done? or what the cause to
"chide?" 85

The words were told before the king, who sent
For the young hero to his royal tent:
Before the monarch dauntless he began,
"For this Philistine fail no heart of man:
"I'll take the vale, and with the giant fight: 90
"I dread not all his boasts, nor all his might."
When

[37]
36 POEMS ON
When thus the king: "Dar'st thou a stripling go,
"And venture combat with so great a foe?
"Who all his days has been inur'd to fight,
"And made its deeds his study and delight: 95
"Battles and bloodshed brought the monster forth,
"And clouds and whirlwinds usher'd in his birth."
When David thus: "I kept the fleecy care,
"And out there rush'd a lion and a bear;
"A tender lamb the hungry lion took, 100
"And with no other weapon than my crook
"Bold I pursu'd, and chas'd him o'er the field,
"The prey deliver'd, and the felon kill'd:
"As thus the lion and the bear I slew,
"So shall Goliath fall, and all his crew: 105
"The God, who sav'd me from these beasts of
"prey,
"By me this monster in the dust shall lay."
So David spoke. The wond'ring king reply'd;
"Go thou with heav'n and victory on thy side:
"This coat of mail, this sword gird on," he
said, 110
And plac'd a mighty helmet on his head:
The

[38]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 37
The coat, the sword, the helm he laid aside,
Nor chose to venture with those arms untry'd,
Then took his staff, and to the neighb'ring
brook
Instant he ran, and thence five pebbles took. 115
Mean time descended to Philistia's son
A radiant cherub, and he thus begun :
"Goliath, well thou know'st thou hast defy'd
"Yon Hebrew armies, and their God deny'd :
"Rebellious wretch! audacious worm! for-
"bear, 120
"Nor tempt the vengeance of their God too far :
"Them, who with his omnipotence contend,
"No eye shall pity, and no arm defend :
"Proud as thou art, in short liv'd glory great,
"I come to tell thee thine approaching fate. 125
"Regard my words. The judge of all the gods,
"Beneath whose steps the tow'ring mountain nods,
"Will give thine armies to the savage brood,
"That cut the liquid air, or range the wood.
"Thee too a well-aim'd pebble shall destroy, 130
"And thou shall perish by a beardless boy :
"Such

[39]
38 POEMS ON
"Such is the mandate from the realms above, }
"And should I try the vengeance to remove, }
"Myself a rebel to my king would prove. }
"Goliath say, shall grace to him be shown, 135
"Who dares heav'ns monarch, and insults his
"throne?"

"Your words are lost on me," the giant }
cries, }
While fear and wrath contended in his eyes, }
When thus the messenger from heav'n replies : }
"Provoke no more Jehovah's awful hand 140
"To hurl its vengeance on thy guilty land :
"He grasps the thunder, and, he wings the
"storm,
"Servants their sov'reign's orders to perform."

The angel spoke, and turn'd his eyes away,
Adding new radiance to the rising day. 145

Now David comes : the fatal stones demand
His left, the staff engag'd his better hand :
The

[40]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 39
The giant mov'd, and from his tow'ring height
Survey'd the stripling, and disdain'd the fight,
And thus began : "Am I a dog with thee? 150
"Bring'st thou no armour, but a staff to me?
"The gods on thee their vollied curses pour,
"And beasts and birds of prey thy flesh de-
"vour."

David undaunted thus, "Thy spear and shield
"Shall no protection to thy body yield : 155
"Jehovah's name-no other arms I bear,
"I ask no other in this glorious war.
"To-day the Lord of Hosts to me will give
"Vict-ry, to-day thy doom thou shalt receive ;
"The fate you threaten shall your own be-
"come, 160
"And beasts shall be your animated tomb,
"That all the earth's inhabitants may know
"That there's a God, who governs all below :
"This great assembly too shall witness stand,
"That needs nor sword nor spear, th'Almighty's
hand : 165
"The

[41]
40 POEMS ON
"The battle his, the conquest he bestows,
"And to our pow'r consigns our hated foes."

Thus David spoke ; Goliath heard and came
To meet the hero in the field of fame.
Ah! fatal meeting to thy troops and thee, 170
But thou wast deaf to the divine decree ;
Young David meets thee, meets thee not in vain;
'Tis thine to perish on th' ensanguin'd plain.

And now the youth the forceful pebble flung,
Philistia trembled as it whizz'd along : 175
In his dread forehead, where the helmet ends,
Just o'er the brows the well-aim'd stone descends,
It pierc'd the skill, and shatter'd all the brain,
Prone on his face he tumbled to the plain :
Goliath's fall no smaller terror yields 180
Than riving thunders in aerial fields :
The soul still ling'red in its lov'd abode,
Till conq'ring David o'er the giant strode :
Goliath's sword then laid its master dead,
And from the body hew'd the ghastly head ; 185
The

[42]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 41
The blood in gushing torrents drench'd the plains,
The soul found passage through the spouting
veins.

And now aloud th'illustrious victor said, }
"Where are your boastings now your cham- }
"pion's dead?" }
Scarce had he spoke, when the Philistines fled : }
But fled in vain ; the conqu'ror swift pursu'd :
What scenes of slaughter! and what seas of blood!
There Saul thy thousands grasped th' impurpled
sand
In pangs of death the conquest of thine hand ;
And David there were thy ten thousands laid : 195
Thus Israel's damsels musically play'd.

Near Gath and Ekron many an hero lay,
Breath'd out their souls, and curs'd the light of
day :
Their fury, quench'd by death, no longer burns,
And David with Goliath's head returns, 200
To Salem brought, but in his tent he plac'd
The load of armour which the giant grac'd.
His

[43]
42 POEMS ON
His monarch saw him coming from the war,
And thus demanded of the son of Ner.
"Say, who is this amazing youth?" he cry'd, 205
When thus the leader of the host reply'd ;
"As lives thy soul I know not whence he sprung,
"So great in prowess though in years so young :"
"Inquire whose son is he," the sov'reign said,
"Before whose conq'ring arm Philistia fled." 210
Before the king behold the stripling stand,
Goliath's head depending from his hand :
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 promis'd gifts," the monarch
cry'd,
Conferring riches and the royal bride : 220
"Knit to my soul for ever thou remain
"With me, nor quit my regal roof again."

Thoughts

[44]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 43
Thoughts on the WORKS of PROVIDENCE.

ARISE, my soul, on wings enraptur'd, rise
To praise the monarch of the earth and
skies,
Whose goodness and beneficence appear
As round its centre moves the rolling year,
Or when the morning glows with rosy charms, 5
Or the sun slumbers in the ocean's arms :
Of light divine be a rich portion lent
To guide my soul, and favour my intent.
Celestial muse, my arduous flight sustain,
And raise my mind to a seraphic strain! 10

Ador'd for ever be the God unseen,
Which round the sun revolves this vast machine,
Though to his eye its mass a point appears :
Ador'd the God that whirls surrounding spheres,
Which first ordain'd that mighty Sol should
reign 15
The peerless monarch of th' ethereal train :
Of

[45]
44 POEMS ON
Of miles twice forty millions is his height,
And yet his radiance dazzles mortal sight
So far beneath-from him th'extended earth
Vigour derives, and ev'ry flow'ry birth : 20
Vast through her orb she moves with easy grace
Around her Phœbus in unbounded space ;
True to her course th' impetuous storm derides,
Triumphant o'er the winds, and surging tides.

Almighty, in these wond'rous works of thine, 25
What Pow'r, what Wisdom, and what Goodness
shine?
And are thy wonders, Lord, by men explor'd,
And yet creating glory unador'd!

Creation smiles in various beauty gay,
While day to night, and night succeeds to day : 30
That Wisdom, which attends Jehovah's ways,
Shines most conspicuous in the solar rays :
Without them, destitute of heat and light,
This world would be the reign of endless
night :
In

[46]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 45
In their excess how would our race complain, 35
Abhorring life! how hate its length'ned chain!
From air adust what num'rous ills would rise?
What dire contagion taint the burning skies?
What pestilential vapours, fraught with death,
Would rise, and overspread the lands beneath? 40

Hail, smiling morn, that from the orient main
Ascending dost adorn the heav'nly plain!
So rich, so various are thy beauteous dies,
That spread through all the circuit of the skies,
That, full of thee, my soul in rapture soars, 45
And thy great God, the cause of all adores.

O'er beings infinite his love extends,
His Wisdom rules them, and his Pow'r defends.
When tasks diurnal tire the human frame,
The spirits faint and dim the vital flame, 50
Then too that ever active bounty shines,
Which not infinity of space confines.
The sable veil, that Night in silence draws,
Conceals effects, but shews th' Almighty Cause ;
Night

[47]
46 POEMS ON
Night seals in sleep the wide creation fair, 55
And all is peaceful but the brow of care.
Again, gay Phœbus, as the day before,
Wakes ev'ry eye, but what shall wake no more ;
Again the face of nature is renew'd,
Which still appears harmonious, fair, and good. 60
May grateful strains salute the smiling morn,
Before its beams the eastern hills adorn!

Shall day to day and night to night conspire
To show the goodness of the Almighty Sire?
This mental voice shall man regardless hear, 65
And never, never raise the filial pray'r?
To-day, O hearken, nor your folly mourn
For time mispent, that never will return.

But see the sons of vegetation rise,
And spread their leafy banners to the skies. 70
All-wise Almighty Providence we trace
In trees, and plants, and all the flow'ry race;
As clear as in the nobler frame of man,
All lovely copies of the Maker's plan.
The

[48]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 47
The pow'r the same that forms a ray of light, 75
That call'd creation from eternal night.
"Let there be light," he said : from his profound
Old Chaos heard, and trembled at the sound ;
Swift as the word, inspir'd by pow'r divine,
Behold the light around its maker shine, 80
The first fair product of th' omnific God,
And now through all his works diffus'd abroad.

As reason's pow'rs by day our God disclose,
So we may trace him in the night's repose :
Say what is sleep? and dreams how passing
strange! 85
When action ceases, and ideas range
Licentious and unbounded o'er the plains,
Where Fancy's queen in giddy triumph reigns.
Hear in soft strains the dreaming lover sigh
To a kind fair, or rave in jealousy ; 90
On pleasure now, and now on vengeance bent,
The lab'ring passions struggle for a vent.
What pow'r, O man! thy reason then restores,
So long suspended in nocturnal hours?
What

[49]
48 POEMS ON
What secret hand returns the mental train, 95
And gives improv'd thine active pow'rs again?
From thee, O man, what gratitude should rise! }
= =
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 100
O'erflowing tides of joy to human hearts,
When wants and woes might be our righteous lot,
Our God forgetting, by our God forgot!

Among the mental pow'rs a question rose,
"What most the image of th'Eternal shows?"
When thus to Reason (so let Fancy rove)
Her great companion spoke immortal Love.

"Say, mighty pow'r, how long shall strife pre-
vail,
"And with its murmurs load the whisp'ring
"gale?
"Refer the cause to Recollection's shrine, 110
"Who loud proclaims my origin divine,
"The

[50]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 49
"The cause whence heav'n and earth began to be,
"And is not man immortaliz'd by me?
"Reason let this most causeless strife subside."
Thus Love pronounc'd, and Reason thus re-
ply'd. 115

"Thy birth, celestial queen! 'tis mine to own,
"In thee resplendent is the Godhead shown ;
"Thy words persuade, my soul enraptur'd feels
"Resistless beauty which thy smile reveals."
Ardent she spoke, and, kindling at her
charms, 120
She clasp'd the blooming goddess in her arms.

Infinite Love where'er we turn our eyes
Appears : this ev'ry creature's wants supplies ;
This most is heard in Nature's constant voice,
This makes the morn, and this the eve re-
joice ; 125
This bids the fost'ring rains and dews descend
To nourish all, to serve one gen'ral end,
The

[51]
50 POEMS ON
The good of man : yet man ungrateful pays
But little homage, and but little praise.
To him, whose works array'd with mercy
shine, 130
What songs should rise, how constant, how di-
vine!

To

[52]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 51
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,
To blacken Phoebus, and dissolve the sky;
His too, when all in his dark realms hurl'd, 5
From its firm base to shake the solid world;
His fatal sceptre rules the spacious whole,
And trembling nature rocks from pole to pole.

Awful he moves, and wide his wings are spread:
Behold they brother number'd with the dead! 10
From bondage freed, the exulting spirit flies
Beyond Olympus, and these starry skies.
Loft in our woe for thee, blest shade, we mourn
In vain; to earth thou never must return.
Thy sister too, fair mourner, feel the dart 15
Of Death, and with fresh torture rend thine heart.
Weep

[53]
52 POEMS ON
Weep not for them, who wish thine happy mind
To rise with them, and leave the world behind.

As a young plant by hurricanes up torn, 20
So near its parent lies the newly born-
But 'midst the bright ethereal train behold
It shines superior on a throne of gold :
Then, mourner, cease ; let hope thy tears restrain,
Smile on the tomb, and sooth the raging pain. 25
On yon blest regions fix thy longing view,
Mindless of sublunary scenes below ;
Ascend the sacred mount, in thought arise,
And seek substantial, and immortal joys ;
Where hope receives, where faith to vision
springs, 30
And raptur'd seraphs tune th' immortal strings
To strains extatic. Thou the chorus join,
And to thy father tune the praise divine.

To

[54]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 53
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 unfully'd and divine,
Where wisdom thron'd, and all the graces shine,
There sits thy spouse amidst the radiant throng, 5
While praise eternal warbles from her tongue;
There choirs angelic shout her welcome round,
With perfect bliss, and peerless glory crown'd.

While thy dear mate, to flesh no more confin'd,
Exults a blest, an heav'n-ascended mind, 10
Say in thy breast shall floods of sorrow rise?
Say shall its torrents overwhelm thine eyes?
Amid the seats of heav'n a place is free,
And angels ope their bright ranks for thee;
For thee they wait, and with expectant eye 15
Thy spouse leans downward from th' empyreal
sky:
"O come

[55]
54 POEMS ON
"O come away, her longing spirit cries,
"And share with me the raptures of the skies.
"Our bliss divine to mortals is unknown;
"Immortal life and glory are our own. 20
"There too many the dear pledges of our love
"Arrive, and taste with us the joys above ;
"Attune the harp to more than mortal lays,
"And join with us the tribute of their praise
"To him, who dy'd stern justice to atone, 25
"And make eternal glory all our own.
"He in his death flew ours, and, as he rose,
"He crush'd the dire dominion of our foes ;
"Vain were their hopes to put the God to flight,
"Chain us to hell, and bar the gates of light." 30

She spoke, and turn'd from mortal scenes her eyes,
Which beam'd celestial radiance o'er the skies.

Then thou, dear man, no more with grief re- }
tire, }
Let grief no longer damp devotion's fire, }
But rise sublime, to equal bliss aspire. 35}
Thy

[56]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 55
Thy sighs no more be wasted by the wind,
No more complain, but be to heav'n resign'd.
'Twas thine t' unfold the oracles divine,
To sooth our woes the task was also thine ;
Now sorrow is incumbent on thy heart, 40
Permit the muse a cordial to impart ;
Who can to thee their tend'rest aid refuse?
To dry thy tears how longs the heav'nly muse!

An

[57]
56 POEMS ON
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,
For bright Aurora now demands my song.

Aurora hail, and all the thousands dies, 5
Which deck thy progress through the vaulted
skies :
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
One ev'ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays ;
Harmonious lays the feather'd race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted
plume. 10

Ye shady groves, your verdant gloom display
To shield your poet from the burning day :
Calliope awake the sacred lyre,
While thy fair sisters fan the pleasing fire :
The

[58]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 57
The bow'rs, the gales, the variegated skies 15
In all their pleasures in my bosom rise.

See in the east th' illustrious king of day!
His rising radiance drives the shades away-
But Oh! I feel his fervid beams too strong,
And scarce begun, concludes th' abortive song. 20

An

[59]
58 POEMS ON
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,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their
notes, 5
And through the air their mingled music floats.

Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are
spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red :
So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below! 10

Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the
light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let

[60]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 59
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd ;
So shall the labours of the day begin 15
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.

Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.

ISAIAH

[61]
60 POEMS ON
ISAIAH lxiii. 1-8.

SAY, heav'nly muse, what king, or mighty
God,
That moves sublime from Idumea's road?
In Bozrah's dies, with martial glories join'd,
His purple vesture waves upon the wind.
Why thus enrob'd delights he to appear 5
In the dread image of the Pow'r of war?

Compress'd in wrath the swelling wine-press
groan'd,
It bled, and pour'd the gushing purple round.

"Mine was the act," th' Almighty Saviour
said,
And shook the dazzling glories of his head, 10
"When all forsook I trod the press alone,
"And conquer'd by omnipotence my own ;
"For man's release sustain'd the pond'rous load,
"For man the wrath of an immortal God :
"To

[62]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 61

"To execute th' Eternal's dread command 15
"My soul I sacrific'd with willing hand ;
"Sinless I stood before the avenging frown,
"Atoning thus for vices not my own."

His eye the ample field of battle round
Survey'd, but no created succors found ; 20
His own omnipotence sustain'd the fight,
His vengeance sunk the haughty foes in night ;
Beneath his feet the prostrate troops were spread,
And round him lay the dying, and the dead.

Great God, what light'ning flashes from thine
eyes? 25
What pow'r withstands if thou indignant rise?

Against thy Zion though her foes may rage,
And all their cunning, all their strength engage,
Yet she serenely on thy bosom lies,
Smiles at their arts, and all their forces defies. 30
On

[63]
62 POEMS ON
On RECOLLECTION.

MNEME begin. Inspire, ye sacred nine,
Your vent'rous Afric in her great design.
Mneme, immortal pow'r, I trace thy spring:
Assist my strains, while I glories sing:
The acts of long departed years, by thee 5
Recover'd, in due order rang'd we see:
Thy pow'r the long-forgotten calls from night,
That sweetly plays before the fancy's sight.

Mneme in our nocturnal visions pours
The ample treasure of her secret stores; 10
Swift from above the wings her silent flight
Through Phoebe's realms, fair regent of the
night;
And, in her pomp of images display'd,
To the high raptur'd poet gives her aid,
Through the unbounded regions of the mind, 15
Diffusing light celestial and rein'd.
The

[64]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 63
The heav'nly phantom paints the actions done
By ev'ry tribe beneath the rolling sun.

Mneme, enthron'd within the human breast,
Has vice condemn'd, and ev'ry virtue blest. 20
How sweet the sound when we her plaudit hear?
Sweeter than music to the ravish'd ear,
Sweeter than Maro's entertaining strains
Resounding through the groves, and hills, and
plains.
But how is Mneme dreaded by the race, 25
Who scorn her warnings, and despise her grace?
By her unveil'd each horrid crime appears,
Her awful hand a cup of wormwood bears.
Days, years mispent, O what a hell of woe!
Hers the worst tortures that our souls can know. 30

Now eighteen years their destin'd course have
run,
In fast succession round the central sun.
How did the follies of that period pass
Unnotic'd, but behold them writ in brass!
In

[65]
64 POEMS ON
In Recollection see them fresh return, 35
And sure 'tis mine to be asham'd, and mourn.

O Virtue, smiling in immortal green,
Do thou exert thy pow'r, and change the scene ;
Be thine employ to guide my future days,
And mine to pay the tribute of my praise. 40

Of Recollection such the pow'r enthron'd
In ev'ry breast, and thus her pow'r is own'd.
The wretch, who dar'd the vengeance of the skies,
At last awakes in horror and surprize,
By her alarm'd, he sees impending fate, 45
He howls in anguish, and repents too late.
But O! what peace, what joys are hers t' impart
To ev'ry holy, ev'ry upright heart!
Thrice blest the man, who, in her sacred shrine,
Feels himself shelter'd from the wrath divine! 50

On

[66]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 65
On IMAGINATION.
THY various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck'd with
pomp by thee!
Thy wond'rous acts in beauteous order stand,
And all attest how potent is thine head.

From Helicon's refulgent heights attend, 5
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend :
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.

Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring
eyes, 10
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.
Imagi-

[67]
66 POEMS ON
Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode, 15
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind :
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms
above. 20
There is one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.

Though Winter frowns to Fancy's raptur'd
eyes
The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise ;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands, 25
And bid their waters murmur o'er the sands.
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flow'ry riches deck the plain ;
Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round,
And all the forest may with leaves be crown'd : 30
Show'rs

[68]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 67
Show'rs may descend, and dews their gems dis-
close,
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.

Such is thy pow'r, nor are thine orders vain,
O thou the leader of the mental train :
In full perfection all thy works are wrought, 35
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. 40

Fancy might now her silken pinions try
To rise from earth, and sweep th' expanse on
high ;
From Tithon's bed now might Aurora rise, }
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies, }
While a pure stream of lights o'erflows the }
skies. 45}
The monarch of the day I might behold,
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
But

[69]
68 POEMS ON
But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,
Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse ;
Winter austere forbids me to aspire, 50
And northern tempests damp the rising fire ;
They chill the tides of Fancy's flowing sea,
Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.

A Fu-

[70]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 69
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,
Beneath him sees the universal whole,
Planets on planets run their destin'd round, 5
And circling wonders fill the vast profound.
Th' ethereal now, and now th' empyreal skies
With growing splendors strike his wond'ring eyes:
The angels view him with delight unknown,
Press his soft hand, and seat him on his throne ;
Then smiling thus. "To this divine abode,
"The seat of saints, of seraphs, and of God,
"Thrice welcome thou." The raptur'd babe
replies,
"Thanks to my God, who snatch'd me to the
"skies,
"E'er

[71]
70 POEMS ON
"E'er vice triumphant had possess'd my heart, 15
"E'er yet the temper had beguil'd my heart,
"E'er yet on sin's base actions I was bent,
"E'er yet I knew temptation's dire intent;
"E'er yet the lash for horrid crimes I felt,
"E'er vanity had led my way to guilt, 20
"But, soon arriv'd at my celestial goal,
"Full glories rush on my expanding soul."
Joyful he spoke: exulting cherubs round
Clapt their glad wings, the heav'nly vaults resound.

Say, parents, why this unavailing moan? 25
Why heave your pensive bosoms with the groans?
To Charles, the happy subject of my song,
A brighter world, and nobler strains belong.
Say would you tear him from the realms above
By thoughtless wishes, and prepost'rous love? 30
Both his felicity increase your pain?
Or could you welcome to this world again
The heir of bliss? with a superior air }
Methinks he answers with a smile severe, }
"Thrones and dominions cannot tempt me }
"there." 35}
But

[72]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 71
But still you cry, "Can we the sigh forbear,
"And still and still must we not pour the tear?
"Our only hope, more dear than vital breath,
"Twelve moons revolv'd, becomes the prey of
"death,
"Delightful infant, nightly visions give 40
"Three to our arms, and we with joy receive,
"We fain would clasp the Phantom to our breast,
"The Phantom flies, and leaves the soul unblest."

To yon bright regions let your faith ascend, }
Prepare to join your dearest infant friend }
In pleasures without measure, without end. }

To

[73]
72 POEMS ON
To Captain H-D, of the 65th Regiment.

SAY, muse divine, can hostile scenes delight
The warrior's bosom in the fields of sight?
Lo! here the christian, and the hero join
With mutual grace to form the man divine.
In H-D see with pleasure and surprize, 5
Where valour kindles, and where virtue lies:
Go, hero brave, still grace the post of same,
And add new glories to thine honour'd name,
Still to the field, and still to virtue true:
Britannia glories in no son like you. 10

To

[74]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 73
To the Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of
DARTMOUTH, His Majesty's Principal Secretary
of State for North America, &c.

HAIL, happy day, when, smiling like the
morn,
Fair Freedom rose New-England to adorn:
The northern clime beneath her genial ray,
Dartmouth, congratulates thy blissful sway:
Elate with hope her race no longer mourns, 5
Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns,
While in thine hand with pleasure we behold
The silken reins, and Freedom's charms unfold.
Long lost to realms beneath the northern skies
She shines supreme, while hated faction dies: 10
Soon as appear'd the Goddess long desir'd,
Sick at the view, she languish'd and expir'd;
Thus from the splendors of the morning light
The owl in sadness seeks the caves of night.
No

[75]
74 POEMS ON
No more, America, in mournful strain 15}
Of wrongs, and grievance unredress'd complain, }
No longer shall thou dread the iron chain, }
Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand
Had made, and with it meant t' enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my
song, 20
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch'd from Afric's fancy'd happy seat: 25
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labour in my parent's breast?
Steel'd was that soul and by no misery mov'd
That from a father seiz'd his babe belov'd:
Such, such my case. And can I then but
pray 30
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?
For

[76]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 75
For favours past, great Sir, our thanks are due,
And thee we ask thy favours to renew,
Since in thy pow'r, as in thy will before,
To sooth the griefs, which thou did'st once de-
plore. 35
May heav'nly grace the sacred sanction give
To all thy works, and thou for ever live
Not only on the wings of fleeting Fame,
Though praise immortal crowns the patriot's name,
But to conduct to heav'ns refulgent fane, 40
May fiery courses sweep th' ethereal plain,
And bear thee upwards to that blest abode,
Where, like the prophet, thou shalt find thy God,

ODE

[77]
76 POEMS ON
ODE TO NEPTUNE.
On Mrs. W-'s Voyage to England.

I.
'WHILE raging tempests shake the shore,
While Æ'lus thunders round us roar,
And sweep impetuous o'er the plain
Be still, O tyrant of the main;
Nor let thy brow contracted frowns betray, 5
While my Susannah skims the wat'ry way.

II.
The Pow'r propitious hears the lay,
The blue-ey'd daughters of the sea
With sweeter cadence glide along,
The Thames responsive joins the song. 10
Pleas'd with their notes Sol sheds benign his ray,
And double radiance decks the face of day.
III. To

[78]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 77
III.
To court thee to Britannia's arms
Serene the climes and mild the sky,
Her region boasts unnumber'd charms, 15
Thy welcome smiles in ev'ry eye.
Thy promise, Neptune keep, record my pray'r,
Nor give my wishes to the empty air.

Boston, October 10, 1772.

To

[79]
78 POEMS ON
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,
Like the fair mother of the blooming loves,
When from above the Goddess with her hand 5
Fans the soft breeze, and lights upon the land;
Thus she on Neptune's wat'ry realm reclin'd
Appear'd, and thus invites the ling'ring wind.

"Arise, ye winds, America explore,
"Waft me, ye gales, from this malignant
"shore; 10
"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,

[80]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 79
Madam, your spouse bereft of wife and son, 15
In the grove's dark recesses pours his moan;
Each branch, wide-spreading to the ambient sky,
Forgets its verdure, and submits to die.

From thence I turn, and leave the sultry plain,
And swift pursue thy passage o'er the main: 20
The ship arrives before the fav'ring wind,
And makes the Philadelphian port assign'd,
Thence I attend you to Bostonia's arms,
Where gen'rous friendship ev'ry bosom warms:
Thrice welcome here! may health revive again, 25
Bloom on thy cheek, and bound in ev'ry vein!
Then back return to gladden ev'ry heart,
And give your spouse his soul's far dearer part,
Receiv'd again with what a sweet surprize,
The tear in transport starting from his eyes! 30
While his attendant son with blooming grace
Springs to his father's ever dear embrace.
With shouts of joy Jamaica's rocks resound,
With shouts of joy the country rings around.

To

[81]
80 POEMS ON
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
Methinks I hear the storm tumultuous roar,
And how stern Boreas with impetuous hand 5
Compell'd the ''Nereids'' to usurp the land.
Reluctant rose the daughters of the main,
And slow ascending glided o'er the plain,
Till Æolus in his rapid chariot drove
In gloomy grandeur from the vault above: 10
Furious he comes. His winged sons obey
Their frantic sire, and madden all the sea.
The billows rave, the wind's fierce tyrant roars,
And with his thund'ring terrors shakes the shores:
Broken by waves the vessel's frame is rent, 15
And strows with planks the wat'ry element.
But

[82]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 81
But thee, Maria, a kind Nereid's shield
Preserv'd from sinking, and thy form upheld:
And sure some heav'nly oracle design'd
At that dread crisis to instruct thy mind 20
Things of eternal consequence to weigh,
And to thine heart just feelings to convey
Of things above, and of the future doom,
And what the births of the dread world to come.

From tossing seas I welcome thee to land. 25
"Resign her, Nereid," 'twas thy God's command.
Thy spouse late buried, as thy feared conceiv'd,
Again returns, thy fears are all reliev'd:
Thy daughter blooming with superior grace
Again thou see'st, again thine arms embrace; 30
O come, and joyful show thy spouse his heir,
And what the blessings of maternal care!

To

[83]
82 POEMS ON
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 op-
prest?
What sighs on sighs heave the fond parent's
breast?
The brother weeps, the hapless sisters join 5
Th' increasing woe, and swell the crystal brine;
The poor, who once his gen'rous bounty fed,
Droop, and bewail their benefactor dead.
In death the friend, the kind companion lies,
And in one death what various comfort dies! 10

Th' unhappy mother sees the sanguine rill
Forget to flow, and nature's wheels stand still,
But see from earth his spirit far remov'd,
And know no grief recals your best-belov'd:
He,

[84]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 83
He, upon pinions swifter than the wind, 15
Has left mortality's sad scenes behind
For joys to this terrestrial state unknown,
And glories richer than the monarch's crown.
Of virtue's steady course the prize behold!
What blissful wonders to his mind unfold! 20
But of celestial joys I sing in vain:
Attempt not, muse, the too advent'rous strain.

No more in briny show'rs, ye friends around,
Or bathe his clay, or waste them on the ground:
Still do you weep, still wish for his return? 25
How cruel thus to wish, and thus to mourn?
No more for him the streams of sorrow pour,
But haste to join him on the heav'nly shore,
On harps of gold to tune immortal lays,
And to your God immortal anthems raise. 30

To

[85]
84 POEMS ON
TO a GENTLEMAN and LADY on the Death of
the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child
of the Name 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,
Where the great conqu'ror has his spoils bestow'd;
There there the offspring of six thousand years 5
In endless numbers to my view appears:
Whole kingdoms in his gloomy den are thrust,
And nations mix with their primeval dust:
Insatiate still he gluts the ample tomb;
His is the present, his the age to come. 10
See here a brother, here a sister spread,
And a sweet daughter mingled with the dead.

But, Madam, let your grief be laid aside,
And let the fountain of your tears be dry'd,
In vain they flow to wet the dusty plain, 15
Your sighs are wafted to the skies in vain,
Your

[86]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 85
Your pains they witness, but they can no more,
While Death reigns tyrant o'er this mortal shore.

The glowing stars and silver queen of light
At last must perish in the gloom of night: 20
Resign thy friends to that Almighty hand,
Which gave them life, and bow to his command;
Thine Avis give without a murm'ring heart,
Though half thy soul be fated to depart.
To shining guards consign thine infant care 25
To waft triumphant through the seas of air:
Her soul enlarg'd to heav'nly pleasure springs,
She feeds on truth and uncreated things.
Methinks I hear her in the realms above,
And leaning forward with a filial love, 30
Invite you there to share immortal bliss
Unknown, untasted in a state like this.
With tow'ring hopes, and growing grace arise,
And seek beatitude beyond the skies.

On

[87]
86 POEMS ON
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
A Town involv'd in grief bereft of thee.
Thy Lucy sees thee mingle with the dead, 5
And rends the graceful tresses from her head,
Wild in her woe, with grief unknown opprest
Sigh follows sigh deep heaving from her breast.

Too quickly fled, ah! whither art thou gone?
Ah! lost for ever to thy wife and son! 10
The hapless child, thine only hope and heir,
Clings round his mother's neck, and weeps his
sorrows there.
The loss of thee on Tyler's soul returns,
And Boston for her dear physician mourns.
When

[88]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 87
When sickness call'd for Marshall's healing
hand, 15
With what compassion did his soul expand?
In him we found the father and the friend:
In life how lov'd! how honour'd in his end!

And must not then our Æsculapius stay
To bring his ling'ring infant into day? 20
The babe unborn in the dark womb is tost,
And seems in anguish for its father lost.

Gone is Apollo from his house of earth,
But leaves the sweet memorials of his worth:
The common parent, whom we all deplore, 25
From yonder world unseen must come no more,
Yet 'midst our woes immortal hopes attend
The spouse, the fire, the universal friend.

To

[89]
88 POEMS ON
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,
Feels higher motives and a nobler flame.
For thee, O R-, the muse attunes her strings, 5
And mounts sublime above inferior things.

I sing not now of green embow'ring woods,
I sing not now the daughters of the floods,
I sing not of the storms o'er ocean driv'n,
And how they howl'd along the waste of heav'n, 10
But I to R- would paint the British shore,
And vast Atlantic, not untry'd before:
Thy life impair'd commands thee to arise,
Leave these bleak regions, and inclement skies,
Where chilling winds return the winter past, 15
And nature shudders at the furious blast.
O thou

[90]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 89
O thou stupendous, earth-enclosing main
Exert thy wonders to the world again!
If ere thy pow'r prolong'd the fleeting breath,
Turn'd back the shafts, and mock'd the gates of
death, 20
If ere thine air dispens'd an healing pow'r,
Or snatch'd the victim from the fatal hour,
This equal case demands thine equal care,
And equal wonders may this patient share.
But unavailing, frantic is the dream 25
To hope thine aid without the aid of him
Who gave thee birth, and taught thee where to
flow,
And in thy waves his various blessings show.

May R- return to view his native shore
Replete with vigour not his own before, 30
Then shall we see with pleasure and surprize,
And own thy work, great Ruler of the skies!

To

[91]
90 POEMS ON
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,
Thus while the heav'nly precepts you impart,
O may each bosom catch the sacred fire, 5
And youthful minds of Virtue's throne aspire!

When God's eternal ways you set in sight,
And Virtue shines in all her native light,
In vain would Vice her works in night conceal,
For Wisdom's eye pervades the sable veil. 10

Artists may paint the sun's effulgent rays,
But Amory's pen the brighter God displays:
While his great works in Amory's pages shine,
And while he proves his essence all divine,
The

[92]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 91
The Atheist sure no more can boast aloud 15
Of chance, or nature, and exclude the God;
As if the clay without the potter's aid
Should rise in various forms, and shapes self-made,
Or worlds above with orb o'er orb profound
Self-mov'd could run the everlasting round. 20
It cannot be-unerring Wisdom guides
With eye propitious, and o'er all presides.

Still prosper, Amory! still may'st thou receive
The warmest blessings which a muse can give,
And when this transitory state is o'er, 25
When kingdoms fall, and fleeting Fame's no more,
May Amory triumph in immortal fame,
A nobler title, and superior name!

On

[93]
92 POEMS ON
On the Death of J. C. an Infant.

NO more the flow'ry scenes of pleasure rise,
Nor charming prospects greet the mental
eyes,
No more with joy we view that lovely face
Smiling, disportive, flush'd with ev'ry grace.

The tear of sorrow flows from ev'ry eye, 5
Groans answer groans, and sighs to sighs reply;
What sudden pangs short thro' each aching heart,
When, Death, thy messenger dispatch'd his dart?
Thy dread attendants, all-destroying Pow'r,
Hurried the infant to his mortal hour. 10
Could'st thou unpitying close those radiant
eyes?
Or fail'd his artless beauties to surprize?
Could not his innocence thy stroke controul,
Thy purpose shake, and soften all thy soul?
The

[94]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 93
The blooming babe, with shades of ''Death'' o'er-
spread, 15
No more shall smile, no more shall raise its
head,
But, like a branch that from the tree is torn,
Falls prostrate, wither'd, languid, and forlorn.
"Where flies my ''James?'' 'tis thus I seem to }
hear }
The parent ask, "Some angel tell me where 20}
"He wings his passage thro' the yielding air?" }
Methinks a cherub bending from the skies
Observes the question, and serene replies,
"In heav'ns high palaces your babe appears:
"Prepare to meet him, and dismiss your tears." 25
Shall not th' intelligence your grief restrain,
And turn the mournful to the chearful strain?
Cease your complaints, suspend each rising sigh,
Cease to accuse the Ruler of the sky.
Parents, no more indulge the falling tear: 30
Let Faith to heav'n's refulgent domes repair,
There see your infant, like a seraph glow:
What charms celestial in his numbers flow
Melodious,

[95]
94 POEMS ON
Melodious, while the soul-enchanting strain
Dwells on his tongue, and fills th' ethereal plain? 35
Enough-for ever cease your murm'ring breath;
Not as a foe, but friend converse with Death,
Since to the port of happiness unknown
He brought that treasure which you call your own.
The gift of heav'n intrusted to your hand 40}
Chearful resign at the divine command: }
Not at your bar must sov'reign Wisdom stand. }

An

[96]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 95
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 5
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, 10
The sire of gods and men address'd,
"My son, my heav'nly fair!
III. "Descend

[97]
96 POEMS ON
III.
"Descend to earth, there place thy throne;
"To succour man's afflicted son
"Each human heart inspire: 15
"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, 20
And leaves the bright abode.
The Virtue did his charms impart;
Their G-y! then thy raptur'd heart
Perceiv'd the rushing God:

V.
For when thy pitying eye did see 25
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. 30
VI. Can

[98]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 97
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 35
With ev'ry heav'nly Art.

To

[99]
98 POEMS ON
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,
And racks your bosom with incessant woe,
Let Recollection take a tender part, 5
Assuage the raging tortures of your heart,
Still the wild tempest of tumultuous grief,
And pour the heav'nly nectar of relief:
Suspend the sigh, dear Sir, and check the groan,
Divinely bright your daughter's Virtues shone: 10
How free from scornful pride her gentle mind,
Which ne'er its aid to indigence declin'd!
Expanding free, it fought the means to prove
Unfailing charity, unbounded love!

She unreluctant flies to see no more 15
Her dear-lov'd parents on earth's dusky shore:
Impatient

[100]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 99
Impatient heav'n's resplendent goal to gain,
She was swift progress cuts the azure plain,
Where grief subsides, where changes are no more,
And life's tumultuous billows case to roar; 20
She leaves her earthly mansion for the skies,
Where new creations feast her wond'ring eyes.

To heav'n's high mandate chearfully resign'd
She mounts, and leaves the rolling globe behind;
She, who late wish'd that Leonard might return, 25
Has ceas'd to languish, and forgot to mourn;
To the same high empyreal mansions come,
She joins her spouse, and smiles upon the tomb:
And thus I hear her from the realms above:
"Lo! this the kingdom of celestial love! 30
"Could ye, fond parents, see our present bliss,
"How soon would you each sigh, each fear dis-
"miss?
"Amidst unutter'd pleasures whilst I play
"In the fair sunshine of celestial day,
"As far as grief affects an happy soul 35
"So far doth grief my better mind controul,
"To

[101]
100 POEMS ON
"To see on earth my aged parents mourn,
"And secret wish for T-l to return:
"Let brighter scenes your ev'ning-hours em-
"ploy:
"Converse with heav'n, and taste the promis'd
"joy." 40

NIOBE

[102]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 101
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,
And taught'st the painter in his works to live,
Inspire with glowing energy of thought, 5
What Wilson painted, and what Ovid wrote.
Muse! lend thy aid, nor let me sue in vain,
Tho' last and meanest of the rhyming train!
O guide my pen in lofty strains to show
The Phrygian queen, all beautiful in woe. 10

'Twas where Mæonia spreads her wide domain
Niobe dwelt, and held her potent reign:
See in her hand the regal sceptre shine,
The wealthy heir of Tantalus divine,
He

[103]
102 POEMS ON
He most distinguish'd by Dodonean Jove, 15
To approach the tables of the gods above:
Her grandsire Atlas, who with mighty pains
Th' ethereal axis on his neck sustains:
Her other gran sire on the throne on high
Rolls the loud-pealing thunder thro' the sky. 20

Her spouse, Amphion, who from Jove too springs,
Divinely taught to sweep the founding strings.

Seven sprightly sons the royal bed adorn,
Seven daughters beauteous as the op'ning morn,
As when Aurora fills the ravish'd sight, 25
And decks the orient realms with rosy light
From their bright eyes the living splendors play,
Nor can beholders bear the flashing ray.

Wherever, Niobe, thou turn'st thine eyes,
New beauties kindle, and new joys arise! 30
But thou had'st far the happier mother prov'd,
If this fair offspring had been less belov'd:
What

[104]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 103
What if their charms exceed Aurora's teint,
No words could tell them, and no pencil paint,
Thy love too vehement hastens to destroy 35
Each blooming maid, and each celestial boy.

Now Manto comes, endu'd with mighty skill,
The past to explore, the future to reveal.
Thro' Thebes' wide streets Tiresia's daughter came,
Divine Latona's mandate to proclaim: 40
The Theban maids to hear the orders ran,
When thus Mœonia's prophetess began:

"Go, Thebans! great Latona's will obey,
"And pious tribute at her altars pay:
"With rights divine, the goddess be implor'd, 45
"Nor be her sacred offspring unador'd."
Thus Manto spoke. The Theban maids obey,
And pious tribute to the goddess pay.
The rich perfumes ascend in waving spires,
And altars blaze with consecrated fires; 50
The fair assembly moves with graceful air,
And leaves of laurel bind the flowing hair.
Niobe

[105]
104 POEMS ON
Niobe comes with all her royal race,
With charms unnumber'd, and superior grace:
Her Phrygian garments of delightful hue, 55
Inwove with gold, resulgent to the view,
Beyond description beautiful she moves
Like heav'nly Venus, 'midst her smiles and loves:
She views around the supplicating train,
And shakes her graceful head with stern dis-
dain, 60
Proudly she turns around her lofty eyes,
And thus reviles celestial deities:
"What madness drives the Theban ladies fair
"To give their incense to surrounding air?
"Say why this new sprung deity preferr'd? 65
"Why vainly fancy your petitions heard?
"Or say why Cœus' offspring is obey'd,
"While to my goddesship no tribute's paid?
"For me no altars blaze with living fires,
"No bullock bleeds, no frankincense transpires, 70
"Tho' Cadmas' palace, not unknown to fame,
"And Phrygian nations all revere my name.
"Where'er

[106]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 105
"Where'er I turn my eyes vast wealth I find.
"Lo! here an empress with a goddess join'd.
"What, shall a Titaness be deify'd, 75
"To whom the spacious earth a couch deny'd?
"Nor heav'n, nor earth, nor sea receiv'd your
"queen,
"'Till pitying Delos took the wand'rer in.
"Round me what a large progeny is spread!
"No frowns of fortune has my soul to dread. 80
"What if indignant she decrease my train
"More than Latona's number will remain?
"Then hence, ye Theban dames, hence haste
"away,
"Nor longer off'rings to Latona pay?
"Regard the orders of Amphion's spouse, 85
"And take the leaves of laurel from your brows."
Niobe spoke. The Theban maids obey'd,
Their brows unbound, and left the rights un-
paid.

The angry goddess heard, then silence broke
On Cynthus' summit, and indignant spoke; 90
"Phœbus!

[107]
106 POEMS ON
"Phœbus! behold, thy mother in disgrace,
"Who to no goddess yields the prior place
"Except to Juno's self, who reigns above,
"The spouse and sister of the thund'ring Jove.
"Niobe sprung from Tantalus inspires 95
"Each Theban bosom with rebellious fires;
"No reason her imperious temper quells,
"But all her father in her tongue rebels;
"Wrap her own sons for her blaspheming breath,
"Apollo! wrap them in the shades of death." 100
Latona ceas'd, and ardent thus replies,
The God, whose glory decks th' expanded skies.

"Cease thy complaints, mine be the task as
"sign'd
"To punish pride, and scourge the rebel mind."
This Phœbe join'd.-They wing their instant
flight; 105
Thebes trembled as th' immortal pow'rs alight.

With clouds incompass'd glorious Phœbus
stands;
The feather'd vengeance quiv'ring in his hands.
Near

[108]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 107
Near Cadmus' walls a plain extended lay,
Where Thebes' young princes pass'd in sport the
day: 110
There the bold coursers bounded o'er the plains,
While their great masters held the golden reins.
Ismenus first the racing pastime led,
And rui'd the fury of his flying steed.
"Ah me," he sudden cries, with shrieking
breath, 115
While in his breast he feels the shaft of death;
He drops the bridle on his courser's mane,
Before his eyes in shadows swims the plain,
He, the first-born of great Amphion's bed,
Was struck the first, first mingled with the
dead. 120

Then didst thou, Sipylus, the language hear
Of fate portentous whistling in the air:
As when th' impending storm the sailor sees
He spreads his canvas to the fav'ring breeze,
So

[109]
108 POEMS ON
So to thine horse thou gav'st the golden reins, 125
Gav'st him to rush impetuous o'er the plains:
But ah! a fatal shaft from Phœbus' hand
Smites through thy neck, and sinks thee on the
sand.

Two other brothers were at wrestling found,
And in their pastime claspt each other round: 130
A shaft that instant from Apollo's hand
Transfixt them both, and stretcht them on the
sand:
Together they their cruel fate bemoan'd,
Together languish'd, and together groan'd;
Together too th' unbodied spirits fled, 135
And fought the gloomy mansions of the dead.

Alphenor saw, and trembling at the view,
Beat his torn breast, that chang'd its snowy hue.
He flies to raise them in a kind embrace;
A brother's fondness triumphs in his face: 140
Alphenor fails in this fraternal deed,
A dart dispatch'd him (so the fates decreed:)
Soon

[110]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 109
Soon as the arrow left the deadly wound,
His issuing entrails smoak'd upon the ground.

What woes on blooming Damasichon wait! 145
His sighs portend his near impending fate.
Just where the weil-made leg begins to be,
And the soft sinews form the supple knee,
The youth sore wounded by the Delian god
Attempts t' extract the crime-avenging rod, 150
But, whilst he strives the will of fate t' avert,
Divine Apollo sends a second dart;
Swift thro' his throat the feather'd mischief flies,
Bereft of sense, he drops his head, and dies.

Young Ilioneus, the last, directs his pray'r, 155
And cries, "My life, ye gods celestial! spare."
Apollo heard, and pity touch'd his heart,
But ah! too late, for he had sent the dart:
Thou too, O Ilioneus, are doom'd to fall,
The fates refuse that arrow to recal. 160
On
[111]
110 POEMS ON
On the swift wings of ever-flying Fame
To Cadmus' palace soon the tidings came:
Niobe heard, and with indignant eyes
She thus express'd her anger and surprize:
"Why is such privilege to them allow'd? 165
"Why thus insulted by the Delian god?
"Dwells there such mischief in the pow'rs above?
"Why sleeps the vengeance of immortal ''Jove?"
For now Amphion too, with grief oppress'd,
Had plung'd the deadly dagger in his breast. 170
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 chang'd!--yet beautiful in
woe, 175
She weeps, nor weeps unpity'd by the foe.
On each pale corse with wretched mother spread
Lay overwhelm'd with grief, and kiss'd her dead,
Then rais'd her arms, and thus, in accents slow,
"Be fated cruel Goddess! with my woe; 180
"If

[112]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 11
"If I've offended, let these streaming eyes,
"And let this sev'nfold funeral suffice:
"Ah! take this wretched life you deign'd to save,
"With them I too am carried to the grave.
"Rejoice triumphant, my victorious foe, 185
"But show the cause from whence your triumphs
"flow?
"Tho' I unhappy mourn these children slain,
"Yet greater numbers to my lot remain."
She ceas'd, the bow string twang'd with awful
sound,
Which struck with terror all th' assembly round,
Except the queen, who stood unmov'd alone,
By her distresses more presumptuous grown.
Near the pale corses stood their sisters fair
In sable vestures and dishevell'd hair;
One, while she draws the fatal shaft away, 195
Faints, falls, and sickens at the light of day.
To sooth her mother, lo! another flies,
And blames the fury of inclement skies,
And, while her words a filial pity show,
Struck dumb--indignant seeks the shades
below. 200
Now

[113]
112 POEMS ON
Now from the fatal place another flies,
Falls in her flight, and languishes, and dies.
Another on her sister drops in death;
A fifth in trembling terrors yields her breath;
While the sixth seeks some gloomy cave in
vain, 205
Struck with the rest, and mingl'd with the slain.

One only daughter lives, and she the least;
The queen close clasp'd the daughter to her breast:
"Ye heav'nly pow'rs, ah spare me one," she cry'd,
"Ah! spare me one," the vocal hills reply'd: 210
In vain she begs, the Fates her suit deny,
In her embrace she sees her daughter die.

* "The queen of all her family berest,
"Without or husband, son, or daughter left,
"Grew stupid at the shock. The passing air 215
"Made no impression on her stiff'ning hair.
"The

* This Verse to the End is the Work of another Hand.

[114]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 113
"The blood forsook her face: amidst the flood
"Pour'd from her cheeks, quite fix'd her eye-balls
"stood.
"Her tongue, her palate both obdurate grew,
"Her curdled veins no longer motion knew; 220
"The use of neck, and arms, and feet was gone,
"And ev'n her bowels hard'ned into stone:
"A marble statue now the queen appears,
"But from the marble steal the silent tears."

To

[115]
114 POEMS ON
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,
And breathing figures learnt from thee to live,
How did those prospects give my soul delight, 5
A new creation rushing on my sight?
Still, wond'rous youth! each noble path pursue,
On deathless glories fix thine ardent view:
Still may the painter's and the poet's fire
To aid thy pencil, and thy verse conspire! 10
And may the charms of each seraphic theme
Conduct thy footsteps to immortal fame!
High to the blissful wonders of the skies
Elate thy soul, and raise thy wishful eyes.
Thrice happy, when exalted to survey 15
That splendid city, crown'd with endless day,
Whose twice six gates on radiant hinges ring:
Celestial Salem blooms in endless spring.
Calm

[116]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 115
Calm and serene thy moments glide along,
And may the muse inspire each future song! 20
Still, with the sweets of contemplation bless'd,
May peace with balmy wings your soul invest!
But when these shades of time are chas'd away,
And darkness ends in everlasting day,
On what seraphic pinions shall we move, 25
And view the landscapes in the realms above?
There shall thy tongue in heav'nly murmurs flow,
And there my muse with heav'nly transport glow:
No more to tell of Damon's tender sighs,
Or rising radiance of Aurora's eyes, 30
For nobler themes demand a nobler strain,
And purer language on th' ethereal plain.
Cease, gentle muse! the solemn gloom of night
Now seals the fair creation from my sight.

To

[117]
116 POEMS ON
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,
Forget their splendors, and submit to die!
Who ere escap'd thee, but the faint * of old 5
Beyond the flood in sacred annals told,
And the great sage, † whom fiery courses drew
To heav'n's bright portals from Elisha's view;
Wond'ring he gaz'd at the refulgent car,
Then snatch'd the mantle floating on the air. 10
From Death these only could exemption boast,
And without dying gain'd th' immortal coast.
Not falling millions sate the tyrant's mind,
Nor can the victor's progress be confin'd.
But cease thy strife with Death, fond Nature,
cease: 15
He leads the virtuous to the realms of peace;
His

* Enoch. † Elijah.

[118]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 117
His to conduct to the immortal plains,
Where heav'n's Supreme in bliss and glory reigns.
There sits, illustrious Sir, thy beauteous spouse;
A gem-blaz'd circle beaming on her brows. 20
Hail'd with acclaim among the heav'nly choirs,
Her soul new-kindling with seraphic fires,
To notes divine she tunes the vocal strings,
While heav'n's high concave with the music rings.
Virtue's rewards can mortal pencil paint? 25
No-all descriptive arts, and eloquence are faint;
Nor canst thou, Oliver, assent refuse
To heav'nly tidings from the Afric muse.

As soon may change thy laws, eternal fate,
As the saint miss the glories I relate; 30
Or her Benevolence forgotten lie,
Which wip'd the trick'ling tear from Mis'ry's eye.
Whene'er the adverse winds were known to blow,
When loss to loss * ensu'd, and woe to woe,
Calm

* Three amiable Daughters who died when just arrived to Womens Estate.

[119]
118 POEMS ON
Calm and serene beneath her father's hand 35
She sat resign'd to the divine command.

No longer then, great Sir, her death deplore,
And let us hear the mournful sigh no more,
Restrain the sorrow streaming from thine eye,
Be all thy future moments crown'd with joy! 40
Nor let thy wishes be to earth confin'd,
But soaring high pursue th' unbodied mind.
Forgive the muse, forgive th' advent'rous lays,
That fain thy soul to heav'nly scenes would raise.

A Farewel

[120]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 119
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, 5
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! 10
I languish till thy face I view,
Thy vanish'd joys regain.
IV. Susannah

[121]
120 POEMS ON
IV.
Susannah mourns, nor can I bear
To see the crystal show'r,
Or mark the tender falling tear 15
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. 20

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 25
We sweep the liquid plain,
And with astonish'd eyes explore
The wide-extended main.
VIII. Lo!

[122]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 121
VIII.
Lo! Health appears! celestial dame!
Complacent and serene,
With Hebe's mantle o'er her Frame, 30
With soul-delighting mein.

IX.
To mark the vale where London lies
With misty vapours crown'd,
Which cloud Aurora's thousand dyes, 35
And veil her charms around,

X.
Why, Phœbus, moves thy car so slow?
So slow thy rising ray?
Give us the famous town to view,
Thou glorious king of day! 40

XI.
For thee, Britannia, I resign
New-England's smiling fields;
To view again her charms divine,
What joy the prospect yields!
XII. But

[123]
122 POEMS ON
XII.
But thou! Temptation hence away, 45
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, 50
And fell Temptation on the field
Of all its pow'r disarms!

Boston, May 7, 1773.

A REBUS,

[124]
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 123
A REBUS, by I. B.

I.
A BIRD delicious to the taste,
On which an army once did feast,
Sent by an hand unseen;
A creature of the horned race,
Which Britain's royal standards grace; 5
A gem of vivid green;

II.
A town of gaiety and sport,
Where beaux and beauteous nymphs resort,
And gallantry doth reign;
A Dardan hero fam'd of old 10
For youth and beauty, as we're told,
And by a monarch slain;

III.
A peer of popular applause,
Who doth our violated laws,
And grievances proclaim. 15
Th' initials show a vanquish'd town,
That adds fresh glory and renown
To old Britannia's fame.

An

[125]
124 POEMS ON
AN ANSWER to the Rebus, by the Author of these
POEMS.

THE poet asks, and Phillis can't refuse
To shew th'obedience of the Infant muse.
She knows the Quail of most inviting taste
Fed Israel's army in the dreary waste;
And what's on Britain's royal standard borne, 5
But the tall, graceful, rampant Unicorn?
The Emerald with a vivid verdure glows
Among the gems which regal crowns compose;
Boston's a town, polite and debonair,
To which the beaux and beauteous nymphs repair,
Each Helen strikes the mind with sweet surprise,
While living lightning flashes from her eyes.
See young Euphorbus of the Dardan line
By Menelaus' hand to death resign :
The well known peer of popular applause
Is C-m zealous to support our laws.
Quebec now vanquish'd must obey,
She too must annual tribute pay
To Britain of immortal fame,
And add new glory to her name. 20

FINIS.

[126]
CONTENTS.
Page

TO Mæcenas 9
On Virtue 13
To the University of Cambridge, in New-
England 15
To the King's Most Excellent Majesty 17
On being brought from Africa 18
On the Rev. Dr. Sewell 19
On the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield 22
On the Death of a young Lady of five Years
of Age 25
On the Death of a young Gentleman 27
To a Lady on the Death of her Husband 29
Goliath of Gath 31
Thoughts on the Works of Providence 43
To a Lady on the Death of three Relations 51
To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady 53
An Hymn to the Morning 56
An Hymn to the Evening 58
On

[127]
CONTENTS.
On Isaiah lxiii. 1-8 60
On Recollection 62
On Imagination 65
A Funeral Poem on the Death of an Infant
aged twelve Months 69
To Captain H. D. of the 65th Regiment 72
To the Rt. Hon. William, Earl of Dartmouth 73
Ode to Neptune 76
To a Lady on her coming to North America
with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health 78
To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in
a Hurricane in North Carolina 80
To a Lady and her Children on the Death of
her Son, and their Brother 82
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 84
On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall 86
To a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain,
for the Recovery of his Health 88
To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory on reading his
Sermons on Daily Devotion, in which that
Duty is recommended and assisted 90
On

[128]
CONTENTS.
On the Death of J. C. an Infant 92
An Hymn to Humanity 95
To the Hon. T. H. Esq; on the Death of his
Daughter 98
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 101
To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing
his Works 114
To his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on
the Death of his Lady 116
A Farewel to America 119
A Rebus by I. B. 123
An Answer to ditto, by Phillis Wheatley 124

[129]
Lately Published, (Price 5s. sewed.)
IN TWO VOLUMES, 12mo.
THE
MEMOIRS
OF
MISS WILLIAMS.
A
HISTORY
FOUNDED ON FACTS.
LONDON : Printed for E. JOHNSON, in Ave Mary Lane;
and A. BELL, near the Stone Pump, Aldgate. 1773.

Shortly will be published, (in a neat Pocket Volume.)
THE
CHURCH-MEMBER's DIRECTORY,
OR,
EVERY CHRISTIAN's COMPANION.
Designed for the Use of such as have engaged in a solemn
Connection with CHRIST'S Visible Church.
WHEREIN
The Duties of that high Relation are considered, both in a
religious and moral Point of View.
''Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity''.
2 Tim. Chap. ii. v. 19
TOGETHER WITH
An ADDRESS to those who have an Intention of entering upon
that important Character.
For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down
first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to
finish it, all that behold it, begin to mock him.
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Luke Chap. xiv. Ver. 28, 29, 30.

By A. B-LL, AUTHOR of the above HISTORY.

Wheatley, Phillis, 1753-1784

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