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
Fed Israel’s army in the dreary waste;
And what’s on Britain’s royal standard borne,
But the tall, graceful, rampant Unicorn?
The Emerald with a vivid verdure glows
Among the gems which regal crowns compose;
Boston’s a town, polite and debonair,
To which the beaux and beauteous nymphs repair,
Each Helen strikes the mind with sweet surprise,
While living lightning flashes from her eyes.
See young Euphorbus of the Dardan line
By Manelaus’ hand to death resign:
The well known peer of popular applause
Is C⁠⸺⁠m zealous to support our laws.
Quebec now vanquish’d must obey,
She too much annual tribute pay
To Britain of immortal fame.
And add new glory to her name.

Where this text comes from

First published in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1]

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Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/phillis-wheatley_poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral, poems-on-various-subjects-religious-and-moral.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (3)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L20.

Cite this poem

Phillis Wheatley (1753?–1784). “An Answer to the Rebus, by the Author of These Poems.” First published in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/phillis-wheatley/an-answer-to-the-rebus-by-the-author-of-these-poems/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

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