Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral · Chapter
A Farewel to America. To Mrs. S. W. explained
The speaker bids farewell to New England's spring landscapes, mourning ill health and the sorrow of parting from Susanna.
What happens
The speaker bids farewell to New England's spring landscapes, mourning ill health and the sorrow of parting from Susanna. Despite the beauty of nature, the voyage to Britannia's shore brings hope of health, yet the speaker resists temptation and celebrates those whose heavenly shield protects them from harm.
Themes in this chapter
Grief and Consolation
Susanna's sorrow at departure and the speaker's attempt to console her are central to the poem.
Divine Providence and Nature
Nature's beauty is in vain for the speaker, yet health appears as a celestial dame, suggesting divine care.
Virtue and Moral Guidance
The speaker rejects temptation and praises those whose heavenly shield protects them from harm.
Characters to notice
- Phillis Wheatley
The speaker who bids farewell to New England and embarks for Britannia.
- Susanna
Mourns the speaker's departure; her tears and grief are described.
- Britannia
The distant shore for which the speaker leaves New England.
- Aurora
Her thousand dyes are clouded by London's misty vapours.
- Phoebus
Addressed as the sun god whose chariot moves slowly; asked to reveal the famous town.
Key passages
“Adieu, New-England's smiling meads, Adieu, the flow'ry plain: I leave thine op'ning charms, O spring, And tempt the roaring main.”
Farewell to New England's pleasant meadows and blooming fields; I leave the beauty of spring to risk the rough sea voyage.
The speaker opens with a farewell to the New England landscape and a decision to sail.
“Susanna mourns, nor can I bear To see the crystal show'r, Or mark the tender falling tear At sad departure's hour;”
Susanna grieves, and I cannot endure watching her tears fall at this sorrowful parting.
The speaker expresses empathy for Susanna's grief at the departure.
“Lo! Health appears! celestial dame! Complacent and serene, With Hebe's mantle o'er her Frame, With soul-delighting mein.”
Behold! Health, a heavenly goddess, appears calm and peaceful, wearing Hebe's cloak and a joyful expression.
Health is personified as a divine figure bringing hope to the speaker.
“But thou! Temptation hence away, With all thy fatal train Nor once seduce my soul away, By thine enchanting strain.”
But you, Temptation, go away with your deadly followers; do not lure my soul with your bewitching song.
The speaker rejects temptation and its allure.
“Thrice happy they, whose heav'nly shield Secures their souls from harms, And fell Temptation on the field Of all its pow'r disarms!”
How fortunate are those whose divine protection keeps their souls safe and strips Temptation of all its power on the battlefield.
The poem concludes by praising those who resist temptation through heavenly protection.
