Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley/A Farewell
A FAREWELL TO AMERICA.
To Mrs. S.W.
Adieu, New-England's smiling meads,
Adieu, the flow'ry plain;
I leave thine opening charms, O spring!
And tempt the roaring main.
In vain for me the flow'rets rise,
And boast their gaudy pride,
While here beneath the northern skies
I mourn for health denied.
Celestial maid of rosy hue,
Oh let me feel thy reign!
I languish till thy face I view,
Thy vanished joys regain.
Susannah mourns, nor can I bear
To see the crystal shower,
Or mark the tender falling tear,
At sad departure's hour;
Nor unregarding can I see
Her soul with grief opprest;
But let no sighs, no groans for me,
Steal from her pensive breast.
In vain the feathered warblers sing,
In vain the garden blooms,
And on the bosom of the spring
Breathes out her sweet perfumes,
While for Britannia's distant shore
We sweep the liquid plain,
And with astonished eyes explore
The wide extended main.
Lo! Health appears, celestial Dame!
Complacent and serene,
With Hebe's mantle o'er her frame,
With soul-delighting mein.
To mark the vale where London lies,
With misty vapors crowned,
Which cloud Aurora's thousand dyes,
And veil her charms around,
Why, Phœbus, moves thy car so slow?
So slow thy rising ray?
Give us the famous town to view,
Thou glorious king of day!
For thee, Britannia, I resign
New-England's smiling fields;
To view again her charms divine,
What joy the prospect yields!
But thou, Temptation, hence away!
With all thy fatal train,
Nor once seduce my soul away,
By thine enchanting strain.
Thrice happy they, whose heavenly shield
Secures their soul from harms,
And fell Temptation on the field
Of all its power disarms!
Boston, May 7th, 1773.