To a Lady on her coming to North-America with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health
INDULGENT muse! my grov'ling mind inspire,And fill my bosom with celestial fire.See from Jamaica's fervid shore she moves,Like the fair mother of the blooming loves,When from above the Goddess with her handFans the soft breeze, and lights upon the land;Thus she on Neptune's wat'ry realm reclin'dAppear'd, and thus invites the ling'ring wind."Arise, ye winds, America explore,"Waft me, ye gales, from this malignant shore;"The Northern milder climes I long to greet,"There hope that health will my arrival meet."Soon as she spoke in my ideal viewThe winds assented, and the vessel flew.Madam, your spouse bereft of wife and son,In the grove's dark recesses pours his moan;Each branch, wide-spreading to the ambient sky,Forgets its verdure, and submits to die.From thence I turn, and leave the sultry plain,And swift pursue thy passage o'er the main:The ship arrives before the fav'ring wind,And makes the Philadelphian port assign'd,Thence I attend you to Bostonia's arms,Where gen'rous friendship ev'ry bosom warms:Thrice welcome here! may health revive again,Bloom on thy cheek, and bound in ev'ry vein!Then back return to gladden ev'ry heart,And give your spouse his soul's far dearer part,Receiv'd again with what a sweet surprise,The tear in transport starting from his eyes!While his attendant son with blooming graceSprings to his father's ever dear embrace.With shouts of joy Jamaica's rocks resound,With shouts of joy the country rings around.
Words in this poem
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- ambient a.
- Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.]
- philadelphian a.
- Of or pertaining to Ptolemy Philadelphus, or to one of the cities named Philadelphia, esp. the modern city in Pennsylvania. [Gr. filadelfia brotherly love, from fila`delfos brotherly; fi`los loved, loving, friendly + 'adelfo`s brother.]
- gladden v. t.
- To make glad; to cheer; to please; to gratify; to rejoice; to exhilarate. [See Glad, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Lady on her coming to North-America with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health 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, To a Lady on her coming to North-America with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/to-a-lady-on-her-coming-to-north-america-with-her-son-for-the-recovery-of-her-health.html, id L26087.
Form and metre
To a Lady on her coming to North-America with her Son, for the Recovery of her Health is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ----AABBCCDDEE--FFGGHH----IIJJKKLL inspire · fire · moves · loves · handA · landA · reclin'dB · windB · exploreC · shoreC · greetD · meetD · viewE · flewE · son · moan · skyF · dieF · plainG · mainG · windH · assign'dH · arms · warms · again · vein · heartI · partI · surpriseJ · eyesJ · graceK · embraceK · resoundL · aroundL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| INDULGENT muse! my grov'ling mind inspire, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| And fill my bosom with celestial fire. | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| See from Jamaica's fervid shore she moves, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Like the fair mother of the blooming loves, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When from above the Goddess with her hand | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Fans the soft breeze, and lights upon the land; | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus she on Neptune's wat'ry realm reclin'd | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Appear'd, and thus invites the ling'ring wind. | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| "Arise, ye winds, America explore, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| "Waft me, ye gales, from this malignant shore; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| "The Northern milder climes I long to greet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| "There hope that health will my arrival meet." | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Soon as she spoke in my ideal view | 9 | ······˘/· |
| The winds assented, and the vessel flew. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Madam, your spouse bereft of wife and son, | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| In the grove's dark recesses pours his moan; | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| Each branch, wide-spreading to the ambient sky, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Forgets its verdure, and submits to die. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/·· |
| From thence I turn, and leave the sultry plain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And swift pursue thy passage o'er the main: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The ship arrives before the fav'ring wind, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And makes the Philadelphian port assign'd, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Thence I attend you to Bostonia's arms, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Where gen'rous friendship ev'ry bosom warms: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thrice welcome here! may health revive again, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| Bloom on thy cheek, and bound in ev'ry vein! | 10 | ·········· |
| Then back return to gladden ev'ry heart, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And give your spouse his soul's far dearer part, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Receiv'd again with what a sweet surprise, | 10 | ˘/˘/····˘/ |
| The tear in transport starting from his eyes! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| While his attendant son with blooming grace | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Springs to his father's ever dear embrace. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With shouts of joy Jamaica's rocks resound, | 10 | ····˘/˘··/ |
| With shouts of joy the country rings around. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.