On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769
ERE yet the morn its lovely blushes spread,See Sewell number'd with the happy dead.Hail, holy man, arriv'd th' immortal shore,Though we shall hear thy warning voice no more.Come, let us all behold with wishful eyesThe saint ascending to his native skies;From hence the prophet wing'd his rapt'rous wayTo the blest mansions in eternal day.Then begging for the Spirit of our God,And panting eager for the same abode,Come, let us all with the same vigour rise,And take a prospect of the blissful skies;While on our minds Christ's image is imprest,And the dear Saviour glows in ev'ry breast.Thrice happy saint! to find thy heav'n at last,What compensation for the evils past!Great God, incomprehensible, unknownBy sense, we bow at thine exalted throne.O, while we beg thine excellence to feel,Thy sacred Spirit to our hearts reveal,And give us of that mercy to partake,Which thou hast promis'd for the Saviour's sake!"Sewell is dead." Swift-pinion'd Fame thus cry'd."Is Sewell dead," my trembling tongue reply'd,O what a blessing in his flight deny'd!How oft for us the holy prophet pray'd!How oft to us the Word of Life convey'd!By duty urg'd my mournful verse to close,I for his tomb this epitaph compose."Lo, here a man, redeem'd by Jesus's blood,"A sinner once, but now a saint with God;"Behold ye rich, ye poor, ye fools, ye wise,"Not let his monument your heart surprise;"Twill tell you what this holy man has done,"Which gives him brighter lustre than the sun."Listen, ye happy, from your seats above."I speak sincerely, while I speak and love,"He sought the paths of piety and truth,"By these made happy from his early youth;"In blooming years that grace divine he felt,"Which rescues sinners from the chains of guilt."Mourn him, ye indigent, whom he has fed,"And henceforth seek, like him, for living bread;"Ev'n Christ, the bread descending from above,"And ask an int'rest in his saving love."Mourn him, ye youth, to whom he oft has told"God's gracious wonders from the times of old."I too have cause this mighty loss to mourn,"For he my monitor will not return."O when shall we to his blest state arrive?"When the same graces in our bosoms thrive."
Words in this poem 16
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- sewell n.
- A scarecrow, generally made of feathers tied to a string, hung up to prevent deer from breaking into a place. Halliwell. [Etymol. uncertain.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- wishful a.
- Having desire, or ardent desire; longing. [Cf. Wistful.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- imprest v. t.
- To advance on loan. Burke. [Pref. im- + prest: cf. It. imprestare. See Prest, n.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- sincerely adv.
- In a sincere manner. Specifically: (a) Purely; without alloy.
- indigent a.
- Wanting; void; free; destitute; -- used with of. [L. indigent, L. indigens, p. p. of indigere to stand in need of, fr. OL. indu (fr. in- in) + L. egere to be needy, to need.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems on various subjects, religious and moral, Project Gutenberg ebook #409; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phillis Wheatley, On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/on-the-death-of-the-rev-dr-sewell-1769.html, id L25920.
Form and metre
On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell, 1769 is 51 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDD--EEFFFFGGHHIIJJJKK----LLMMNNOO--PPQQRR--SS spreadA · deadA · shoreB · moreB · eyesC · skiesC · wayD · dayD · god · abode · riseE · skiesE · imprestF · breastF · lastF · pastF · unknownG · throneG · feelH · revealH · partakeI · sakeI · cry'dJ · reply'dJ · deny'dJ · pray'dK · convey'dK · close · compose · blood · god · wiseL · surpriseL · doneM · sunM · aboveN · loveN · truthO · youthO · felt · guilt · fedP · breadP · aboveQ · loveQ · toldR · oldR · mourn · return · arriveS · thriveS
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ERE yet the morn its lovely blushes spread, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| See Sewell number'd with the happy dead. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Hail, holy man, arriv'd th' immortal shore, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Though we shall hear thy warning voice no more. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Come, let us all behold with wishful eyes | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| The saint ascending to his native skies; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| From hence the prophet wing'd his rapt'rous way | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To the blest mansions in eternal day. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Then begging for the Spirit of our God, | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| And panting eager for the same abode, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Come, let us all with the same vigour rise, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And take a prospect of the blissful skies; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While on our minds Christ's image is imprest, | 10 | ··/··/˘·˘/ |
| And the dear Saviour glows in ev'ry breast. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thrice happy saint! to find thy heav'n at last, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What compensation for the evils past! | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Great God, incomprehensible, unknown | 10 | ··˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| By sense, we bow at thine exalted throne. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| O, while we beg thine excellence to feel, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Thy sacred Spirit to our hearts reveal, | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And give us of that mercy to partake, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Which thou hast promis'd for the Saviour's sake! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "Sewell is dead." Swift-pinion'd Fame thus cry'd. | 10 | /˘········ |
| "Is Sewell dead," my trembling tongue reply'd, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| O what a blessing in his flight deny'd! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How oft for us the holy prophet pray'd! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| How oft to us the Word of Life convey'd! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| By duty urg'd my mournful verse to close, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I for his tomb this epitaph compose. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| "Lo, here a man, redeem'd by Jesus's blood, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| "A sinner once, but now a saint with God; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| "Behold ye rich, ye poor, ye fools, ye wise, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| "Not let his monument your heart surprise; | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| "Twill tell you what this holy man has done, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| "Which gives him brighter lustre than the sun. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| "Listen, ye happy, from your seats above. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| "I speak sincerely, while I speak and love, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| "He sought the paths of piety and truth, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| "By these made happy from his early youth; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "In blooming years that grace divine he felt, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| "Which rescues sinners from the chains of guilt. | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| "Mourn him, ye indigent, whom he has fed, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| "And henceforth seek, like him, for living bread; | 10 | ·//····/˘· |
| "Ev'n Christ, the bread descending from above, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| "And ask an int'rest in his saving love. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Mourn him, ye youth, to whom he oft has told | 10 | ·········· |
| "God's gracious wonders from the times of old. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| "I too have cause this mighty loss to mourn, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| "For he my monitor will not return. | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| "O when shall we to his blest state arrive? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| "When the same graces in our bosoms thrive." | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
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