Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral/A Rebus by I. B.

by Phillis Wheatley

 

A REBUS, by I. B.

I.

A BIRD delicious to the taste,
On which an army once did feast,
⁠Sent by an hand unseen;
A creature of the horned race,

Which Britain's royal standards grace;

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⁠A gem of vivid green;

II.

A town of gaiety and sport,
Where beaux and beauteous nymphs resort,
⁠And gallantry doth reign;

A Dardan hero fam'd of old

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For youth and beauty, as we're told,
⁠And by a monarch slain;

III.

A peer of popular applause,
Who doth our violated laws,

⁠And grievances proclaim.

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Th' initials show a vanquish'd town,
That adds fresh glory and renown
⁠To old Britannia's fame.