Phillis Wheatley's poem "To His Excellency General Washington" is couched in epic language. The first stanza begins with the "Celestial choir" and moves on to "Mother earth," making it clear that the fate of America is a matter to shake the heavens and the earth, while less-favored nations look on in amazement.

America is consistently described in both epic and divine terms. The Goddess "moves divinely fair," and her armies pour "through a thousand gates." The use of this elevated language throughout the poem, with nothing comparable for the defeated France and Britain, creates a sense of America as divinely invincible—not merely a victor but a god warring against mortals.

The final stanza shows that it is America (and Washington himself) rather than the Revolution per se which excites Wheatley's enthusiasm. She has no objection to a throne so long as it is Washington who sits on it. Whether or not Wheatley was an ideological Republican, however, the consistent hyperbole and grandiose descriptions of America throughout the poem leave no doubt as to her fervent patriotism.