Phillis Weatley - On Virtue

Expect Nothing - Alice Walker

To the King's Most Excellent Majesty by Phillis Wheatley

To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1768

YOUR subjects hope, dread Sire— The crown upon your brows may flourish long, And that your arm may in your God be strong! O may your sceptre num’rous nations sway, And all with love and readiness obey! 5 But how shall we the British king reward! Rule thou in peace, our father, and our lord! Midst the remembrance of thy favours past, The meanest peasants most admire the last. May George, belov’d by all the nations round, 10 Live with heav’ns choicest constant blessings crown’d! Great God, direct, and guard him from on high, And from his head let ev’ry evil fly! And may each clime with equal gladness see A monarch’s smile can set his subjects free!

Isiah LXIII by Phillis Wheatley

Isaiah LXIII

Say, heav'nly muse, what king or mighty God,
That moves sublime from Idumea's road?
In Bosrah's dies, with martial glories join'd,
His purple vesture waves upon the wind.
Why thus enrob'd delights he to appear
In the dread image of the Pow'r of war?
Compres'd in wrath the swelling wine-press groan'd,
It bled, and pour'd the gushing purple round.

"Mine was the act," th' Almighty Saviour said,
And shook the dazzling glories of his head,
"When all forsook I trod the press alone,
"And conquer'd by omnipotence my own;
"For man's release sustain'd the pond'rous load,
"For man the wrath of an immortal God:
"To execute th' Eternal's dread command
"My soul I sacrific'd with willing hand;
"Sinless I stood before the avenging frown,
"Atoning thus for vices not my own."

His eye the ample field of battle round
Survey'd, but no created succours found;
His own omnipotence sustain'd the right,
His vengeance sunk the haughty foes in night;
Beneath his feet the prostrate troops were spread,
And round him lay the dying, and the dead.

Great God, what light'ning flashes from thine eyes?
What pow'r withstands if thou indignant rise?

Against thy Zion though her foes may rage,
And all their cunning, all their strength engage,
Yet she serenely on thy bosom lies,
Smiles at their arts, and all their force defies.

To a Lady and Her Children by Phillis Wheatley

To a Lady and Her Children

O'erwhelming sorrow now demands my song:
From death the overwhelming sorrow sprung.
What flowing tears? What hearts with grief opprest?
What sighs on sighs heave the fond parent's breast?
The brother weeps, the hapless sisters join
Th' increasing woe, and swell the crystal brine;
The poor, who once his gen'rous bounty fed,
Droop, and bewail their benefactor dead.
In death the friend, the kind companion lies,
And in one death what various comfort dies!
Th' unhappy mother sees the sanguine rill
Forget to flow, and nature's wheels stand still,
But see from earth his spirit far remov'd,
And know no grief recalls your best-belov'd:
He, upon pinions swifter than the wind,
Has left mortality's sad scenes behind
For joys to this terrestrial state unknown,
And glories richer than the monarch's crown.
Of virtue's steady course the prize behold!

What blissful wonders to his mind unfold!
But of celestial joys I sing in vain:
Attempt not, muse, the too advent'rous strain.

No more in briny show'rs, ye friends around,
Or bathe his clay, or waste them on the ground:
Still do you weep, still wish for his return?
How cruel thus to wish, and thus to mourn?
No more for him the streams of sorrow pour,
But haste to join him on the heav'nly shore,
On harps of gold to tune immortal lays,
And to your God immortal anthems raise.

Commentary:
I believe the author was very close to religious purpose and she sought out to share these beliefs with others.As told throughout her other poems she focus on her journey and her new found religion which she believe saved her. In the poem To a lady and her children Wheatley expresses that they shouldn't worry because god will whole them together if they just believe and they will be reunited with love ones who have past. Her main focus is on God and she hopes to create a sense of feeling in others to believe that god will make  away for all 

On Death of J.C. an Infant by Phillis Wheatley

On the Death of J.C. an Infant

No more the flow'ry scenes of pleasure rife,
Nor charming prospects greet the mental eyes,
No more with joy we view that lovely face
Smiling, disportive, flush'd with ev'ry grace.

The tear of sorrow flows from ev'ry eye,
Groans answer groans, and sighs to sighs reply;
What sudden pangs shot thro' each aching heart,
When, Death, thy messenger dispatch'd his dart?
Thy dread attendants, all-destroying Pow'r,
Hurried the infant to his mortal hour.
Could'st thou unpitying close those radiant eyes?
Or fail'd his artless beauties to surprise?
Could not his innocence thy stroke control,
Thy purpose shake, and soften all thy soul?

The blooming babe, with shades of Death o'erspread,
No more shall smile, no more shall raise its head,
But, like a branch that from the tree is torn,
Falls prostrate, wither'd, languid, and forlorn.
"Where flies my James?" 'tis thus I seem to hear
The parent ask, "Some angel tell me where
"He wings his passage thro' the yielding air?"
Methinks a cherub bending from the skies
Observes the question, and serene replies,
"In heav'ns high palaces your babe appears:
"Prepare to meet him, and dismiss your tears."
Shall not th' intelligence your grief restrain,
And turn the mournful to the cheerful strain?
Cease your complaints, suspend each rising sigh,
Cease to accuse the Ruler of the sky.
Parents, no more indulge the falling tear:
Let Faith to heav'n's refulgent domes repair,
There see your infant, like a seraph glow:
What charms celestial in his numbers flow
Melodious, while the foul-enchanting strain
Dwells on his tongue, and fills th' ethereal plain?
Enough--for ever cease your murm'ring breath;
Not as a foe, but friend converse with Death,
Since to the port of happiness unknown
He brought that treasure which you call your own.
The gift of heav'n intrusted to your hand
Cheerful resign at the divine command:
Not at your bar must sov'reign Wisdom stand.

Phillis Wheatley

Commentary:

Wheatley begins with response o the death of J.C. The Family, realizing that the infant is dead, begins contemplating the effects of his death on their live.Because he is dead i feel as though their life at a hault and they will not be able to enjoy his presence. Wheatley has the paents cry out to an angel asking " where flies my James"? the poem ends with angel answering the parents with word of wisdom. Wheatley's description of the Family's response shows the realization that humans react selfishly to the death of their love ones. The Family's suffering is symbolic of the pain we experience as a result of our earthly traits is due to our apparent selfishness and obvious lack of strong faith

 

Ode To Neptune by Phillis Wheatley

Ode To Neptune

On Mrs. W-----'s Voyage to England.

I.
WHILE raging tempests shake the shore,
While AElus' thunders round us roar,
And sweep impetuous o'er the plain
Be still, O tyrant of the main;
Nor let thy brow contracted frowns betray,
While my Susanna skims the wat'ry way.

II.
The Pow'r propitious hears the lay,
The blue-ey'd daughters of the sea
With sweeter cadence glide along,
And Thames responsive joins the song.
Pleas'd with their notes Sol sheds benign his ray,
And double radiance decks the face of day.

III.
To court thee to Britannia's arms
Serene the climes and mild the sky,
Her region boasts unnumber'd charms,
Thy welcome smiles in ev'ry eye.
Thy promise, Neptune keep, record my pray'r,
Not give my wishes to the empty air. 

     

Commentary:

“Ode to Neptune” signifies her life in many ways. The language of the poem starts out shaky and chaotic but the mood is adventurous yet scary reflecting much of her life experiences. By the end of the poem the language and attitude seems to generate an emotion of a calm peaceful journey that served of great importance. This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is "ababcc" Her structure or form of the poetry expressed the tone.

She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture.
 

On Imagination by Philis Wheatley

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:
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.
Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.
Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.
Though Winter frowns to Fancy's raptur'd eyes
The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,
And bid their waters murmur o'er the sands.
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flow'ry riches deck the plain;
Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round,
And all the forest may with leaves be crown'd:
Show'rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose,
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.
Such is thy pow'r, nor are thine orders vain,
O thou the leader of the mental train:
In full perfection all thy works are wrought,
And thine the sceptre o'er the realms of thought.
Before thy throne the subject-passions bow,
Of subject-passions sov'reign ruler thou;
At thy command joy rushes on the heart,
And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.
Fancy might now her silken pinions try
To rise from earth, and sweep th' expanse on high:
From Tithon's bed now might Aurora rise,
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies,
While a pure stream of light o'erflows the skies.
The monarch of the day I might behold,
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,
Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse;
Winter austere forbids me to aspire,
And northern tempests damp the rising fire;
They chill the tides of Fancy's flowing sea,
Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.

Phillis Wheatley

Commentary:

The poem On Imagination is a poem where she imagines many things. The poem basically depicts her life at the initial phases, where she is being taken by an American family and fortunately been taught and bought with all comforts as their own children. She was praised for all her good work and was never treated as a servant, but as equal as a family member.She then discuss about the power of imagination. How our minds could travel through the extremities and imagine many things, we may not be able to obtain. The soaring heights and the round the universe, and meet God.Next she does her imagination by turning the winter into summer season and imagines the Goddess of blossoming flowers, which she represents as Flora and spread the fragrance everywhere and also the god of forests, which keeps the forests evergreen and when the showers fall, the water droplets forms like jewels on the leaves and pearls on the petals.She then says that the power of imagination is so great that we are the rulers of our thoughts. All works done could be done with full perfection and we feel joy when we see our own creative art.Lastly she says that, with all the imaginative powers she imagines the sunrise at dawn and which so beautiful and magnificent and that leaves a glow to the sky with the beautiful vibrant colors and the mountain tips with the color of radiant gold, who could not just admire the beauty and how could one leave such a place.

Before I leave The Stage by Alice Walker

Before I Leave The Stage

Before I leave the stage

I will sing the only song

I was meant truly to sing.

It is the song

of I AM.

Yes: I am Me

&

You.

WE ARE.

I love Us with every drop

of our blood

every atom of our cells

our waving particles

-undaunted flags of our Being-

neither here nor there. 

Alice Walker

Commentary:

In Alice Walker Before I leave the stage  she uses the connection of leaving the stage as leaving earth. She contrast these two to metaphorically bring them together. Before leaving a stage there is always something final thing that someone would like to accomplish before exiting.

Knowing you Might some day come by Alice Walker

Knowing you might some day come

Knowing you might some day come

and how unprepared I’ve always

been

like Mr. Sloppy

in Charles Dickens’

our Mutual Friend

I made a list:

not meat, vegetables, beer and pudding

but number l, warmth.

number 2, warmth.

number 3, warmth.

number 4, a good snuggler.

number 5, someone who sings

while he/she works.

number 6, a dancer.

number 7, someone who grows & is

intrigued by

the mind. And

by the spirit too.

Number 7, someone who is loved

by animals; and loves

them back without

a thought.

number 8, someone who smells

delicious.

number 9, someone whose anger

lasts no longer than mine.

number 10, someone who

stands beside me. behind me. If necessary

in front of me.

number 11, someone who

is a passable cook.

number 12, Someone who laughs

a lot, thinks I have a fine

sense

of humor

& has friends.

number 13, someone who can be

original in dress:

stylish

warlock –In silver, lapis

& black – to my witch. 

Alice Walker

Commentary:
In the Poem Knowing you Might come someday talks about God coming someday and Wheatley not being prepared her. Her sense of imagery used throughout the poem give you an ideal of how she might view god and his doing. Once again we see that Walker religious is prudent throughout most of her poems.

We Alone by Alice Walker

We Alone

We alone can devalue gold 
by not caring 
if it falls or rises 
in the marketplace. 
Wherever there is gold 
there is a chain, you know, 
and if your chain 
is gold 
so much the worse 
for you.

Feathers, shells 

and sea-shaped stones 

are all as rare.

This could be our revolution: 

to love what is plentiful 

Torture by Alice Walker

Torture

When they torture your mother

plant a tree

When they torture your father

plant a tree

When they torture your brother

and your sister

plant a tree

When they assassinate

your leaders

and lovers

plant a tree

Whey they torture you

too bad

to talk

plant a tree.

When they begin to torture

the trees

and cut down the forest

they have made

start another. 

Alice Walker


 Torture by Alice Walker morals are what doesn’t kill you make you stronger. That each obstacle gives you a since of wisdom in life. That life isn’t always easy and you have get back up from the hard stuff in life. Alice Walker use free verse and she seems very calm when writing this poem. The poem mainly contains unstressed sylabules . Alice Walker use a lot of different poetry devices such as imagery, metaphors, alteration, extend metaphor, refrain, and symbol. In most of her poems the imagery is easy to find. For example the line when they assassinate your leaders and lovers. Alice Walker use symbol trees to represent the different obstacles you face in life. The forest symbolizes the wisdoms you have in life and obstacles you faced in life. The trees are also used as metaphors and extend metaphors. In the repeated line plant a tree shows these two
metaphors. Also the line plant a tree is a refrain she uses because of the repeated phrase. Alice Walker also use alteration when she writes plant a tree.

What it feels like by Alice Walker

What It Feels Like

As if I've swallowed
A watermelon
And
Sidestepping
My digestive tract
It has lodged

In my heart.
There it lies
Green
& whole
with a luscious
red
heart of its own
daring me
to cut. 

Alice Walker

Commentary:

I believe this poem could be universal. Comparing things that you feel lodged in your throat can hurt as well as your feelings. Feelings are the most vulnerable and just like your digestive system getting side track if something harmed it. Your feelings can stir you in another direction depending on whether your happy or sad. In this case I believe Walker was contemplating  to feelings when your down and upset and which give you all the reasons to stop this pain.

The Tree of Life Has Fallen by Alice Walker

The Tree Of Life Has Fallen

The tree of life
has fallen on my small house.
I thought it was so much bigger!
But it is not.
There in the distance I see the mountains
still.
The view of vast water stretching before me
is superb.
My boat is grand and I still command the captain
of it; not having learned myself to sail.
But I am adrift
without my tree of life
that has fallen heavy
without grace or pity
on this small place.
For the departing dictator, in perpetuity.

Alice Walker





Commentary:
Tree of life is a symbolic representing all aspects of life. It connects us one by one and hold us firmly so that we may enjoy peaceful living. Walker explains when the tree of life have a fallen and that we want be planted firmly and want have sense of direction. She describes it as things become tighten and compacted.When the tree of life have fallen an unbalance occur and i believe Walker wanted to explain such.

Desire by Alice Walker

Desire

My desire
is always the same; wherever Life
deposits me:
I want to stick my toe
& soon my whole body
into the water.
I want to shake out a fat broom
& sweep dried leaves
bruised blossoms
dead insects
& dust.
I want to grow
something.It seems impossible that desire
can sometimes transform into devotion;
but this has happened.
And that is how I've survived:
how the hole
I carefully tended
in the garden of my heart
grew a heart
to fill it.

Alice Walker

 Commentary

Desire written by Alice walker is a poem that is about having courage during a rough time. The poem Desire is another poem by Alice Walker that is free verse. 
In this poem you can find metaphor and similes  The metaphors help create the meaning and pain the picture about the poem. The quote that stock out the most in poem was “In the garden of my heart grew heart.” This metaphor creates such a deep meaning in the poem. When you think about garden of my heart represent hope and grew heart represent desire. Because when you have hope in something, the desire grows with the hope. You tend to want it more than ever when you have hope.
Also the poem contains descriptive imagery as well to help convey the theme and create a picture. Her use in imagery in this poem helps create a movie about her finding desire to do something. Her use of imagery can be found in almost every other line in the poem. Alice imagery helps you convey the meaning of the poem. The quote “In the garden of my heart grew heart.” The reader can imagine a heart growing in a garden. The reader an also imagine her shaking off the disappointment with the quote “I want to shake out a fat broom.”

A Hymn to humanity by Phillis Wheatley

An Hymn to Humanity

I.

Lo! for this dark terrestrial ball
Forsakes his azure-paved hall
A prince of heav'nly birth!
Divine Humanity behold,
What wonders rise, what charms unfold
At his descent to earth!

II.

The bosoms of the great and good
With wonder and delight he view'd,
And fix'd his empire there:
Him, close compressing to his breast,
The sire of gods and men address'd,
"My son, my heav'nly fair!

III.

"Descend to earth, there place thy throne;
"To succour man's afflicted son
"Each human heart inspire:
"To act in bounties unconfin'd
"Enlarge the close contracted mind,
"And fill it with thy fire."

IV.

Quick as the word, with swift career
He wings his course from star to star,
And leaves the bright abode.
The Virtue did his charms impart;
Their G-----! then thy raptur'd heart
Perceiv'd the rushing God:

V.

For when thy pitying eye did see
The languid muse in low degree,
Then, then at thy desire
Descended the celestial nine;
O'er me methought they deign'd to shine,
And deign'd to string my lyre.

VI.

Can Afric's muse forgetful prove?
Or can such friendship fail to move
A tender human heart?
Immortal Friendship laurel-crown'd
The smiling Graces all surround
With ev'ry heav'nly Art. 

Phillis Wheatley

 

Commmentary: 

 

In the poem “An Hymn to the Morning”  Wheatley tries to explain beauty in everything in life. She makes the readers aware of the fact that though nothing lasts forever but from the time a thing is born till the time it dies, it is as a matter of fact truly beautiful and adorable. Every living being on Earth, be it a little flower or a human being is an exclusive design of God and we should love and respect each and every creation of God.The poetess has used personification and metaphors to explain the beauty of the nature. She stresses on the importance of the beautiful morning, the gentle wind, the setting sun, the beautiful sky and the shades that the sun creates. If one loses thyself in the beauty of nature, he or she will be left with no pain as a result of which they will also start understanding the deepest meaning of life.