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To His Excellency General Washington Study Guide

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by Phillis Wheatley
About 31 pages (9,294 words)
To His Excellency General Washington Summary

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Poem Summary

Line 1

Celestial choir is the poet's muse, a device of neoclassicism. The muse is called on to inspire the poet's writing.

Line 2

"Columbia" was a term Wheatley used for America, later used by other writers.

Line 3

"Freedom's cause" is the central theme of the poem, the struggle of the colonists to be free from England, even if it meant going to war against the more powerful British.

Line 4

In this context, "dreadful" means "inspiring awe or reverence," "in refulgent arms" means "in brilliant defense." In this sense, Columbia (America) is portrayed in righteous terms for standing up against England.

Lines 5-6

The speaker of the poem points out that other countries are watching something unique occurring in the uprising. And as it turns out, the American Revolution.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 537 words. This study guide contains 9,294 words (approx. 31 pages at 300 words per page).

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To His Excellency General Washington from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

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