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