An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of the Celebrated Divine…George Whitefield

Phillis Wheatley's "An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of That Celebrated Divine...George Whitefield" is an elegy, a poem of sorrow and lamentation for the deceased. George Whitefield was a prominent Church of England evangelist in the 18th century, known for his stimulating preaching that fueled a Protestant revival across Britain and the American colonies. Wheatley, the first Black woman poet of note in the United States, wrote this poem as a tribute to Whitefield, whom she may have known personally. The poem exemplifies Wheatley's style, often using couplets and focusing on themes of morality and piety.123