Viewing page 29 of 32

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

54 PHILLIS WHEATLEY'S POEMS.
XIII.
Thrice happy they, whose heav'nly shield
Secures their fouls from harms,
And fell Temptation on the field
Of all its pow'r disarms !
Boston, May 7, 1773.

AREBUS: 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; 
A gem of vivid green;

II.
A town of gaiety and sport,
Where beaus and beauteous nymphs resort,
And gallantry doth reign;
A Dardan hero fam'd of old
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; 
Th' Initials show a vaquish'd town,
That adds fresh glory and renown
To old Britannia's fame.
--
An ANSWER to the REBUS by the AUTHOR of these POEMS.
THE poet asks, and Phillis can't refuse
To show th' obedience of the infant muse.
She knows the Quail of most inviting taste

PHILLIS WHEATLEY'S POEMS.          55
Fed Israel's army in the dreary waste;
And what's on Britain's royal standard borne,
But the tall, graceful, rampant Unicorn?
The Em'rald with a vivid verdure glows
Among the gems which regal crowns compose;
Boston's a town, polite and debonair,
To which the beaus and beauteous nymphs repair,
Each Helen strikes the mind with sweet surprise,
While living lightning slashes from her eyes;
See young Euphorbus of the Dardan line
By Menelaus' hand to death resign :
The well known peer of popular applause
Is Chatham, 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.
                     Amos

FINIS

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-11 14:27:24