Page:Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a native African and a slave.djvu/82

76 "For man's release sustained the ponderous load,

"For man the wrath of an immortal God;

"To execute the Eternal's dread command,

"My soul I sacrificed with willing hand;

"Sinless I stood before the avenging frown,

"Atoning thus, for vices not my own."

His eye the ample field of battle round

Surveyed, but no created succors found;

His own omnipotence sustained the fight,

His vengeance sunk the haughty foes in night,

Beneath his feet the prostrate troops were spread,

And round him lay the dying and the dead.

Great God, what lightning flashes from thine eyes!

What power withstands if thou indignant rise?

Against thy Zion though her foes may rage,

And all their cunning, all their strength engage,

Yet she serenely on thy bosom lies,

Smiles at their arts, and all their force defies.



begin Inspire, ye sacred Nine,

Your vent'rous Afric, in her great design.

Mneme, immortal power, I trace thy spring;

Assist my strains, while I thy glories sing: