Page:Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a native African and a slave.djvu/64

58 To join forever on the hills of light.

To thine embrace his joyful spirit moves,

To thee, the partner of his earthly loves;

He welcomes thee to pleasures more refined,

And better suited to the immortal mind.

martial powers, and all ye tuneful Nine,

Inspire my song, and aid my high design.

The dreadful scenes and toils of war I write,

The ardent warriors and the fields of fight:

You best remember, and you best can sing

The acts of heroes to the vocal string:

Resume the lays with which your sacred lyre

Did then the poet and the sage inspire.

Now front to front the armies were displayed,

Here Israel ranged, and there the foes arrayed;

The hosts on two opposing mountains stood,

Thick as the foliage of the waving wood.

Between them an extensive valley lay,

O'er which the gleaming armor poured the day;

When, from the camp of the Philistine foes,

Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose;

In the dire deeds of bleeding battle skilled,