Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral · Question
How does Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral develop the theme of Death and the Afterlife?
Answer
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley develops Death and the Afterlife across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
Many elegies and funeral poems explore death as a transition to a heavenly afterlife, offering consolation to mourners by depicting the deceased as ascending to blissful immortality, as in 'On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell' and 'On the Death of a Young Gentleman.'
Sewell is depicted as ascending to the immortal shore and joining the happy dead in eternal day.
Whitefield's death is portrayed as a triumphant ascent to an immortal throne in heaven, with the tomb holding his dust until resurrection.
The poem centers on death as a passage to heaven, with vivid imagery of the soul's seat and divine joys.
Evidence in the book
- On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell. 1769
Sewell is depicted as ascending to the immortal shore and joining the happy dead in eternal day.
- On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield. 1770
Whitefield's death is portrayed as a triumphant ascent to an immortal throne in heaven, with the tomb holding his dust until resurrection.
- On the Death of a Young Gentleman
The poem centers on death as a passage to heaven, with vivid imagery of the soul's seat and divine joys.
- To a Lady on the Death of Three Relations
The poem explores Death's dominion over all creation and the soul's liberation and ascent to heavenly bliss.
- To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina
The poem reflects on eternal consequences and the future doom, urging contemplation of the afterlife.
- To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, Aged One Year
The poem dwells on death's dominion over all humanity and the promise of heavenly immortality for the faithful.
- On the Death of Dr. Samuel Marshall. 1771
The poem contemplates the transition from earthly life to an immortal shade, and the hope beyond death.
- To the Honourable T. H. Esq.; On the Death of His Daughter
The daughter's death is portrayed as a transition to a blissful celestial existence, where she reunites with her spouse and experiences eternal joy.
