All chapters

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral · Chapter

Dedication explained

Phillis Wheatley respectfully dedicates her collection of poems to the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon, expressing her humility and devotion as a servant.

What happens

Phillis Wheatley respectfully dedicates her collection of poems to the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon, expressing her humility and devotion as a servant.

Characters to notice

  • Phillis Wheatley

    The author and dedicating servant, inscribing her poems to the Countess of Huntingdon.

Key passages

  • To the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon , The following Poems Are most respectfully Inscribed, By her much obliged, Very humble, And devoted Servant, Phillis Wheatley. Boston, June 12, 1771 .

    Phillis Wheatley, as a humble and devoted servant, respectfully dedicates these poems to the Countess of Huntingdon.

    This dedication establishes the patron relationship and the formal tone of the work.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral — Dedication Explained