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POEMS?ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS,?RELIGIOUS AND MORAL.
BY PHILLIS WHEATLEY,
NEGRO SERVANT TO MR. JOHN WHEATLEY,?OF BOSTON, IN NEW-ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
TO Maecenas?On Virtue?To the University of Cambridge, in New England?To the King's Most Excellent Majesty?On being brought from Africa?On the Rev. Dr. Sewell?On the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield?On the Death of a young Lady of five Years of Age?On the Death of a young Gentleman?To a Lady on the Death of her Husband?Goliath of Gath?Thoughts on the Works of Providence?To a Lady on the Death of three Relations?To a Clergyman on the Death of his Lady?An Hymn to the Morning?An Hymn to the Evening?On Isaiah lxiii. 1------8?On Recollection?On Imagination?A Funeral Poem on the Death of an Infant aged
twelve Months?To Captain H. D. of the 65th Regiment?To the Right Hon. William, Earl of Dartmouth?Ode to Neptune?To a Lady on her coming to North America with
her Son, for the Recovery of her Health?To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in a
Hurricane in North Carolina?To a Lady and her Children on the Death of the Lady's Brother
and Sister, and a Child of the Name?of Avis, aged one Year?On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall,?To a Gentleman on his Voyage to Great-Britain,
for the Recovery of his Health?To the Rev. Dr. Thomas Amory on reading his Sermons
on Daily Devotion, in which that Duty is?recommended and assisted?On the Death of J. C. an Infant?An Hymn to Humanity?To the Hon. T. H. Esq; on the Death of his Daughter?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
To S. M. a young African Painter, on seeing his Works?To his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor,
on the Death of his Lady?A Farewel to America?A Rebus by I. B.?An Answer to ditto, by Phillis Wheatley
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE?COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON,?THE FOLLOWING?P O E M S?ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.?BY HER MUCH OBLIGED,?VERY HUMBLE?AND DEVOTED SERVANT.?PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
BOSTON, JUNE 12, 1773.
P R E F A C E.
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 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?Master's Letter in the following Page?will sufficiently show 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 following is a Copy of a LETTER sent?by the Author's 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.
To the PUBLIC.
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 HUTCHINSON, Governor.
The Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Lieutenant-Governor.
The Hon. Thomas Hubbard, | The Rev. Charles Chauncey, 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; | 
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