Race, Imitation, and Forgetting in Benjamin Tompson's New England Pastorals.

SEACONCK Plain Engagement (Poem); TO Lord Bellamont When Entering Governour of Massachusetts (Poem); TOMPSON, Benjamin; KING Philip's War, 1675-1676; INDIGENOUS peoples of the Americas in literature; ASSIMILATION (Sociology); POETRY (Literary form); REVOLUTIONARY (Literary period)

An essay is presented which discusses the poems "Seaconck Plain Engagement" and "To Lord Bellamont When Entering Governour of Massachusetts" by Benjamin Tompson. According to the author, the process of colonizing the Americas posed serious challenges to the cultural authority of the pastoral genre which Tompson drew upon, creating visible stresses in his poetry. Topics discussed include King Philip's War, assimilation, and the play "The Death of King Philip" by Romulus Linney.