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But how is Mneme dreaded by the race,
Who scorn her warnings and despise her grace?
By her unveil'd each horrid crime appears,
Her awful hand a cup of wormwood bears.
Days, years mispent, O what a hell of woe!
Hers the worst tortures that our souls can know.

— Phillis Wheatley

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Memory

More quotes by Phillis Wheatley

Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

But, Madam, let your grief be laid aside,
And let the fountain of your tears be dry'd,
In vain they flow to wet the dusty plain,
Your sighs are wafted to the skies in vain,
Your pains they witness, but they can no more,
While Death reigns tyrant o'er this mortal shore.

Creation smiles in various beauty gay
While day to night, and night succeeds day

Thy ev'ry action let the goddess guide. A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.

To His Excellency, George Washington (1775)

Celestial choir! enthron'd in realms of light, Columbia's scenes of glorious toils I write. While freedom's cause her anxious breast alarms, She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.

To His Excellency, George Washington (1775)

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In the practical use of our intellect, forgetting is as important a function as recollecting.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Phillis Wheatley (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.