Thy various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck'd with pomp by thee!
Thy wond'rous acts in beauteous order stand,
And all attest how potent is thine hand.
From Helicon's refulgent heights attend,
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend:
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.
“Helicon” refers to Mount Helicon, “celebrated in classical literature as the favourite haunt of the Muses” ( Encyclopedia Britannica ) and the site of two sacred rivers. The river Hippocrene, in particular, was thought to be the wellspring of poetic inspiration. Wheatley calls on the “sacred choir” of the Muses to descend from this mountain and inspire her.
On Imagination