To His Excellency General Washington

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1773

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Muse

In the poem, Wheatley twice evokes a muse, eventually calling on the embodiment of inspiration to bring her pen good favor: “Muse! Bow propitious while my pen relates ...” (Line 13). This is one of Wheatley’s clearest allusions to classical and neoclassical tradition. In ancient Greek and Roman epics, the speaker of a poem often opened on a summons of the muse when composing poetry, music, or histories. Such a gesture signaled a grandiosity of the work at hand, its events, and characters. By calling on the muse, to “bow propitious” (Line 13) the poet figuratively gives herself over as a vessel to the spirit of inspiration so that the composition at hand might be inspired to greatness.

Heroism of War / Warrior Culture

True to the nature of a poem focused on a war and its general, Wheatley’s poem presents idealized images of war and warrior culture. Classical and neoclassical traditions both have long continuums of verse honoring war and its warriors; Homer’s famed epics Iliad and Odyssey focus on the battle and the subsequent journey home following the fall of Troy. Over centuries, various writers and poets borrowed techniques, allusions, and characters from the epics, hearkening back to, parodying, and taking inspiration from its depictions of heroism.

Wheatley frames Washington enacting several of the touchstones of warrior culture. She proclaims his virtue and valor throughout the poem: “[f]am'd for thy valour, for thy virtues more” (Line 27), and alludes to his place on a gilded throne, “A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine, / With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine,” (Lines 38-39). This was, perhaps, not as a literal call for Washington to take an American crown but rather the symbolism of ancient warrior kings ascending to a role of leadership after victory on the battlefield, positioning him as a hero of the polis.

In the epic tradition, qualities of a warrior hero changed over time to reflect society’s advancements. In pagan depictions of heroism, heroes like Odysseus, Achilles, and Hercules, eschewed codes of warrior culture. A warrior hero cared little for the lives of others, his pursuits were famously self-serving, and above all, a warrior hero was adept in pillaging.

Over time, these models of heroism were rejected. In Roman epics, the archetype, “hero of the polis,” was created. More in line with today’s constructions of heroism, a hero of the polis enacted violence for the betterment of those citizens of his own tribe, city, or nation state. In Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid, Aeneas is a paragon of Roman values, leading a group of survivors from the fall of Troy to find a way home. Wheatley’s depiction of General Washington best fits the Roman model of protagonist—operating for the colonists of the virgin nation and seeking to build a new home.

Scales & Virtue

The measuring and judging of virtue that occurs throughout the poem is an understated thematic element. Wheatley, who had written a similarly flattering poem to George III for his agreement to the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1765, resolutely writes against the British monarchy here. When a poem is written to sway popular opinion to the defense of or condemnation against a person or ideology, it is called a polemic. Much of Wheatley’s works function in this rhetorical mode. In “To His Excellency General Washington,” Wheatley installs the symbols of scales and repeated mention of virtue to bear out and represent this sifting gesture: “Fix'd are the eyes of nations on the scales, / For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevails” (Lines 33-34). In this image, the presence of scales implies the nations of the world are bearing judgement on the Revolutionary war. In the eyes of the poem’s speaker, virtue is assumed as belonging to Washington, almost predetermining his victory in the poem’s closing, “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side” (Line 39).