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An Answer to the Rebus, by the Author of these Poems

by Phillis Wheatley, 1773

The poet asks, and Phillis can't refuse
To shew th'obedience of the Infant muse.
She knows the Quail of most inviting taste
Fed Israel's army in the dreary waste;
And what's on Britain's royal standard borne,
But the tall, graceful, rampant Unicorn?
The Emerald with a vivid verdure glows
Among the gems which regal crowns compose;
Boston's a town, polite and debonair,
To which the beaux and beauteous nymphs repair,
Each Helen strikes the mind with sweet surprise,
While living lightning flashes from her eyes.
See young Euphorbus of the Dardan line
By Menelaus' hand to death resign:
The well known peer of popular applause
Is C—m zealous to support our laws.
  Quebec now vanquish'd must obey,
  She too must annual tribute pay
  To Britain of immortal fame,
  And add new glory to her name.


FINIS.

Published in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
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