The Works of James M. Whitfield: America and Other Writings by a Nineteenth-Century African American Poet

TO A. H.

America and Other Poems 51 TO A. H.¹¹ I JUST had turned the classic page, With ancient lore and wisdom fraught, Which many a hoary-headed sage Had stamped with never-dying thought; And many a bard of lofty mind, With measured lay and tuneful lyre, And strains too grand for human kind, All pregnant with celestial fire— In notes majestic, loud and long, Had poured the volumed tide of song. Here Egypt’s sages, skilled of yore In Isis’ dark mysterious rites,¹² Unvailed their fund of mystic lore To eager Grecian neophytes. And as I sadly musing sat, Thinking on ages long gone by, The Pantheon¹³ arose in state, And passed before my fancy’s eye. Juno’s majestic mien was there, And Venus’ beauteous form and face, Diana, modest, chaste, and fair, Hebe, adorned with youthful grace, Ceres, with sheaves and plenteous horn, Minerva, with high wisdom crowned, Aurora, radiant as the morn, Whose smiles shed light on all around; 11. First published in the North Star, 12 April 1850, 4. Despite the use of the abbreviation “A. H.,” which remains obscure, this and other of Whitfield’s love poems are perhaps best read as verses about love and poetry (ars poetica) that do not necessarily need a “real-life” referent. 12. Isis was the Egyptian goddess of the dead, known for reassembling the body of her dead husband, Osiris, so that she could impregnate herself, giving birth to Horus, the first ruler of a united Egypt. 13. The Pantheon was a Roman temple constructed circa 27 B.C.E. 52 America and Other Poems The Graces, sisterhood divine, Prepared to charm each mortal sense, And last of all, the immortal Nine,¹⁴ With music, verse, and eloquence,— Naiads and Nymphs,¹⁵ a numerous train, Came thronging through the ample fane. Peris, from eastern regions came, Bearing aloft the sacred fire, Which Zoroaster, son of flame, Kindled on Mithra’s ancient pyre.¹⁶ The dark-eyed maids who wait to greet The Moslem brave in Paradise, Forsook awhile their blissful seat, And left the region of the skies, The palm of beauty to dispute With sovereign Jove’s¹⁷ immortal suit. And as I sat, entranced, amazed, With radiant beauty circled round, Thy form, high o’er the rest upraised, Appeared, with brighter splendor crowned And every eye was turned on thee, Of Houri,¹⁸ Peri, Goddess, Grace, 14. Whitfield refers to a number of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses: Juno, queen of the gods and protector of the Roman state; Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty; Diana, Roman goddess of nature and fertility; Hebe, Greek goddess of youth; Ceres, Roman goddess of agriculture; Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom; Aurora, Roman personification of the dawn; the Graces, the three Roman goddesses providing talent and inspiration; the immortal Nine, the Greek goddesses (muses) who inspire the arts and sciences. 15. In Greek myth, naiads are beautiful, lighthearted, and beneficent nymphs associated with flowing water (i.e., springs, rivers, fountains, lakes); nymphs are female divinities often associated with fertility and nature. 16. References to Iranian/Zoroastrian mythology. Peris were benevolent, graceful spirits; Zoroaster was the founder and prophet of Zoroastrianism (a dualistic ancient Persian religion); Mithra was the Iranian god of light and friendship. 17. Jove, also known as Jupiter, was the Roman god of light and sky, protector of the state. 18. A houri is a nymph generally linked in Islamic tradition to the heavenly paradise described in the Koran. America and Other Poems 53 As, bright in peerless majesty, You mounted to the highest place. Juno resigned her crown to thee, Venus her zone of love unbound, While haughty Pallas¹⁹ bowed the knee, And laid her armor on the ground. The Muses, also, owned thee queen Of music, eloquence, and verse, And tuned their lyres and harps, I ween, Thy matchless praises to rehearse. The Peri owned thy dazzling eye Might kindle far a brighter fire Than that which erst blazed to the sky, On many an oriental pyre, There lighting up with ray divine, The ancient Gheber’s²⁰ fiery shrine. The Houris owned that could thy charms Be viewed from regions of the skies, ’T would tempt the faithful from their arms, And all the joys of Paradise; Or were the Prophet’s self on earth, And but a glimpse of thee were given, He’d own one smile of thine were worth All pleasures of his highest...