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Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

by Phillis Wheatley

"To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory on Reading His Sermons on Daily Devotion, in which that Duty is Recommended and Assisted."

Additional Information
  • Year Published: 1773
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States of America
  • Source: Wheatley, P. (1773). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.London, England: A. Bell.
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 2.5
  • Word Count: 227
  • Genre: Poetry
  • Keywords: 18th century literature, american authors, poetry
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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,
And youthful minds to 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.
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 Atheist sure no more can boast aloud
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.
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,
When kingdoms fall, and fleeting Fame's no more,
May Amory triumph in immortal fame,
A nobler title, and superior name!