Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
- 40 chapters
- 1 hr 9 min read
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Preface
About this book
The first book of poems by an African American woman, printed in London in 1773 when its author was about twenty and still enslaved in Boston. Phillis Wheatley writes elegies for friends and ministers — George Whitefield among them — hymns to the morning and evening, a verse retelling of David and Goliath, meditations on providence, recollection and imagination, and the eight lines of “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” The first edition’s preface, her master’s letter and the attestation signed by eighteen Boston men, who vouched that she had written the poems herself, open the book.
MAECENAS, you, beneath the myrtle shade,Read o’er what poets sung, and shepherds play’d.What felt those poets but you feel the same?Does not your soul possess the sacred flame?Their noble strains your equal genius sharesIn softer language, and diviner airs. While Homer paints, lo!
Contents
- 1 Preface 3 min
- 2 To Maecenas 2 min
- 3 On Virtue 1 min
- 4 To the University of Cambridge, in New-England 1 min
- 5 To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, 1768 1 min
- 6 On Being Brought from Africa to America 1 min
- 7 On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769 2 min
- 8 On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, 1770 2 min
- 9 On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age 1 min
- 10 On the Death of a Young Gentleman 1 min
- 11 To a Lady on the Death of Her Husband 1 min
- 12 Goliath of Gath 9 min
- 13 Thoughts on the Works of Providence 5 min
- 14 To a Lady on the Death of Three Relations 1 min
- 15 To a Clergyman on the Death of His Lady 2 min
- 16 An Hymn to the Morning 1 min
- 17 An Hymn to the Evening 1 min
- 18 Isaiah lxiii. 1–8 1 min
- 19 On Recollection 2 min
- 20 On Imagination 2 min
- 21 A Funeral Poem on the Death of C. E., an Infant of Twelve Months 2 min
- 22 To Captain H———d, of the 65th Regiment 1 min
- 23 To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth 2 min
- 24 Ode to Neptune 1 min
- 25 To a Lady on Her Coming to North-America with Her Son, for the Recovery of Her Health 1 min
- 26 To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina 1 min
- 27 To a Lady and Her Children, on the Death of Her Son and Their Brother 1 min
- 28 To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister 1 min
- 29 On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall, 1771 1 min
- 30 To a Gentleman on His Voyage to Great-Britain for the Recovery of His Health 1 min
- 31 To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory, on Reading His Sermons on Daily Devotion 1 min
- 32 On the Death of J. C., an Infant 2 min
- 33 An Hymn to Humanity 1 min
- 34 To the Honourable T. H., Esq., on the Death of His Daughter 1 min
- 35 Niobe in Distress for Her Children Slain by Apollo 8 min
- 36 To S. M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works 1 min
- 37 To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, on the Death of His Lady 2 min
- 38 A Farewel to America 1 min
- 39 A Rebus, by I. B. 1 min
- 40 An Answer to the Rebus 1 min
About the author
Phillis Wheatley
1753 1784
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral · 1773
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Public domain. Source text from the original edition.
Cite this book
Copy a citation in the style you need.
- MLA
- Wheatley, Phillis. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. 1773. Ochorus, https://ochorus.com/books/poems-on-various-subjects/.
- Chicago
- Wheatley, Phillis. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. 1773. Reprint, Ochorus. https://ochorus.com/books/poems-on-various-subjects/.
- Chicago footnote
- Phillis Wheatley, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773; repr., Ochorus), https://ochorus.com/books/poems-on-various-subjects/.
- BibTeX
- @book{wheatley1773poems, author = {Wheatley, Phillis}, title = {{Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral}}, year = {1773}, publisher = {Ochorus}, url = {https://ochorus.com/books/poems-on-various-subjects/} }