Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley/Dr. Thomas Amory
TO THE REV. DR. THOMAS AMORY,
On reading his Sermons on Daily Devotion, in which that duty is
recommended and assisted.
To cultivate in ev'ry noble mind
Habitual grace, and sentiments refined,
Thus while you strive to mend the human heart,
Thus while the heavenly precepts you impart,
Oh! may each bosom catch the sacred fire,
And youthful minds to Virtue's throne aspire!V
When God"s eternal ways you set in sight,
And Virtue shines in all her native light,
In vain would Vice her works conceal,
For Wisdom's eye pervades the sable veil.
Artists may paint the sun's effulgent rays,
But Amory's pen the brighter God displays:
While his great works in Amory's pages shine,
And while he proves his essence all divine,
The Atheist sure no more can boast aloud
Of chance, or nature, and exclude the God;
As if the clay, without the potter's aid,
Should rise in various forms and shapes self-made,
Or worlds above, with orb o'er orb profound,
Self-moved, could run the everlasting round.
It cannot be—unerring Wisdom guides
With eye propitious, and o'er all presides.
Still prosper, Amory! still may'st thou receive
The warmest blessings which a Muse can give,
And when this transitory state is o'er,
When kingdoms fall, and fleeting Fame's no more,
May Amory triumph in immortal fame,
A nobler title and superior name!