“Mine was the act,” th’ Almighty Saviour said,
And shook the dazzling glories of his head,
When all forsook I trod the press alone,
And conquer’d by omnipotence my own;
For man’s release sustain’d the pond’rous load,
For man the wrath of an immortal God:
To execute th’ Eternal’s dread command
My soul I sacrific’d with willing hand;
Sinless I stood before the avenging frown,
Atoning thus for vices not my own.”
~ Phillis Wheatley
In honor of Phillis Wheatley, who was born on this day in 1753. She was the first African American and first U.S. slave to publish a book of poems and only the third American woman to do so.
Resources:
This Day in History for 8th May
Isaiah lxii. 1-8 Phillis Wheatley
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