Wheatley's classical style may seem difficult and unclear to you at first. For example, as was typical of the poets of her day, she often inverts the usual order of words in a sentence. The questions below will help you identify Wheatley's imagery and understand her meaning. Try to answer the questions as you read each stanza.
What wish does the speaker of the poem express in the first stanza?
- for the light of the Sun to reveal the mysteries of the seasons
- for the light of God to guide her soul and elevate her thoughts
- for the Sun to rise and set as usual throughout the year
- for the wings of her soul to carry her all the way to the Sun
Wheatley asks for the goodness of divine light to inspire and guide her poetic flight.
Wheatley asks for the goodness of divine light to inspire and guide her poetic flight.
Wheatley asks for the goodness of divine light to inspire and guide her poetic flight.
Wheatley asks for the goodness of divine light to inspire and guide her poetic flight.
In the second stanza, what does the speaker express adoration for?
- the uncontrollable power of nature
- the goodness of the Sun god Phoebus
- the dazzling light of the Sun
- the unseen God of the universe
This stanza expresses adoration for the unseen God, whose power manifests in the "vast machine" of the universe.
This stanza expresses adoration for the unseen God, whose power manifests in the "vast machine" of the universe.
This stanza expresses adoration for the unseen God, whose power manifests in the "vast machine" of the universe.
This stanza expresses adoration for the unseen God, whose power manifests in the "vast machine" of the universe.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker says that divine wisdom is easiest to see in what?
- the reign of endless night
- the warmth and light of the Sun
- the fact that God does not destroy us
- the gratitude of human beings for the Sun
The speaker says that the Sun, which we depend on for our survival, is an obvious sign of God's wisdom.
The speaker says that the Sun, which we depend on for our survival, is an obvious sign of God's wisdom.
The speaker says that the Sun, which we depend on for our survival, is an obvious sign of God's wisdom.
The speaker says that the Sun, which we depend on for our survival, is an obvious sign of God's wisdom.
According to the speaker, what is another manifestation of God's love and wisdom?
- the fact that the Sun doesn't burn us to death
- the occasional appearance of rainbows
- the arrival of night to end the day's work
- the appearance of stars in the night sky
The speaker gives thanks for the reliable cycle of day and night that gives us a time of rest.
The speaker gives thanks for the reliable cycle of day and night that gives us a time of rest.
The speaker gives thanks for the reliable cycle of day and night that gives us a time of rest.
The speaker gives thanks for the reliable cycle of day and night that gives us a time of rest.
According to the speaker, what is the BEST response to God's generosity?
- to praise and worship God
- to regret our badly spent time
- to ask for more divine gifts
- to worship the Sun
The speaker says that we should respond to God's generosity with prayers of thanks.
The speaker says that we should respond to God's generosity with prayers of thanks.
The speaker says that we should respond to God's generosity with prayers of thanks.
The speaker says that we should respond to God's generosity with prayers of thanks.
Summary
Questions answered correctly:
Questions answered incorrectly:
Thoughts on the Works of Providence
Arise, my soul, on wings enraptur'd, rise
To praise the monarch of the earth and skies,
Whose goodness and beneficence appear
As round its centre moves the rolling year,
Or when the morning glows with rosy charms,
Or the sun slumbers in the ocean's arms:
Of light divine be a rich portion lent
To guide my soul, and favour my intent.
Celestial muse, my arduous flight sustain,
And raise my mind to a seraphic strain!
Ador'd for ever be the God unseen,
Which round the sun revolves this vast machine,
Though to his eye its mass a point appears:
Ador'd the God that whirls surrounding spheres,
Which first ordain'd that mighty Sol should reign
The peerless monarch of th' ethereal train:
Of miles twice forty millions is his height,
And yet his radiance dazzles mortal sight
So far beneath from him th' extended earth
Vigor derives, and ev'ry flow'ry birth:
Vast through her orb she moves with easy grace
Around her Phoebus in unbounded space;
True to her course th' impetuous storm derides
Triumphant o'er the winds, and surging tides.
Almighty, in these wond'rous works of thine,
What Pow'r, what Wisdom, and what Goodness shine?
And are thy wonders, Lord, by men explor'd,
And yet creating glory unador'd!
Creation smiles in various beauty gay,
While day to night, and night succeeds to day:
That Wisdom, which attends Jehovah's ways,
Shines most conspicuous in the solar rays:
Without them, destitute of heat and light,
This world would be the reign of endless night:
In their excess how would our race complain,
Abhorring life! how hate its length'ned chain!
From air adust what num'rous ills would rise?
What dire contagion taint the burning skies?
What pestilential vapors, fraught with death,
Would rise, and overspread the lands beneath?
Hail, smiling morn, that from the orient main *
Ascending dost adorn the heav'nly plain!
So rich, so various are thy beauteous dies,
That spread through all the circuit of the skies,
That, full of thee, my soul in rapture soars,
And thy great God, the cause of all adores.
O'er beings infinite his love extends,
His Wisdom rules them, and his Pow'r defends.
When tasks diurnal * tire the human frame,
The spirits faint, and dim the vital flame,
Then too that ever active bounty shines,
Which not infinity of space confines.
The sable veil, that Night in silence draws,
Conceals effects, but shews th' Almighty Cause;
Night seals in sleep the wide creation fair,
And all is peaceful but the brow of care.
Again, gay Phoebus, as the day before,
Wakes ev'ry eye, but what shall wake no more;
Again the face of nature is renew'd,
Which still appears harmonious, fair, and good.
May grateful strains salute the smiling morn,
Before its beams the eastern hills adorn!
Shall day to day and night to night conspire
To show the goodness of the Almighty Sire?
This mental voice shall man regardless hear,
And never, never raise the filial pray'r?
To-day, O hearken, nor your folly mourn
For time mispent, that never will return.
