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The Poems of Phillis Wheatley

And, in her pomp of images display'd,
To the high-raptur'd poet gives her aid,
Through the unbounded regions of the mind,
Diffusing light celestial and refin'd.
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.
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,
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 misspent, O what a hell of woe!
Hers the worst tortures that our souls can know.
  Now eighteen years their destin'd couse have run
In fast sucession round the central sun.
How did the follies of that period pass
Unnotic'd, but behold them writ in brass!
In Recollection see them fresh return,
And sure 'tis mine to be asham'd, and mourn.

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The Poems of Phillis Wheatley

  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.
  Of Recollection such the pow'r enthron'd
In ev'ry beast, and thus her pow'r is own'd.
The wretch, who dar'd the vengance of the skies,
At last awakes in horror and surprise,
By her alarm'd, he sees impending fate,
He howls in anguish and repents too late.
But O! what peace, what joys are her's 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!

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 hand.
  From Helicon's refulgent heights attend
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend:

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Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-26 15:28:36 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-26 16:26:36