from The Anarchiad or American Antiquities: a poem on the restoration of chaos and substantial night (1786-1787)
Excerpt: American Antiquities. – No. IV. Extract from The Anarchiad, Book XXIII
by David Humphreys, Joel Barlow, John Trumbull, and Lemuel Hopkins
Dr. Lemuel Hopkins (1750-1801), principal author of The Anarchiad, was known as an innovative physician who specialized in the treatment of tuberculosis, to which he prescribed fresh air and a healthy diet over old-fashioned “cures” such as donkey’s milk instead cow’s milk. (He later wrote a satirical poem entitled “Epitaph on a Patient Killed by a Cancer Quack.”) Having received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Yale in 1784, Hopkins was aligned with the Wits in both their intellectual and literary pursuits as well as their Federalist political leanings.
The Hartford Wits together wrote a satirical poem called “The Anarchiad or American antiquities: a poem on the restoration of chaos and substantial night,” which was published in 12 installments in the New Haven Gazette and the Connecticut magazine from October 26, 1786 to September 13, 1787. The Anarchiad used political satire that imitated the works of British authors John Milton and Alexander Pope to convey both the authors’ patriotism for the United States of America and their fear that the fledgling states’ disorganization and varying interests would prevent the country from staying united.
American Antiquities – No. IV
Sister of Freedom! heaven’s imperial child!
Serenely stern, beneficently mild,
Blest Independence! rouse my sons to fame,
Inspire their bosoms with thy sacred flame!
Teach, ere too late, their blood-bought rights to prize,
Bid other GREENES and WASHINGTONS arise!
Teach those who suffer’d for their country’s good,
Who strove for freedom, and who toil’d in blood,
Once more, in arms, to make the glorious stand,
And bravely die, or save their natal land.
“Yes, they shall rise, terrific in their rage,
And crush the factions of the faithless age;
Bid laws again exalt th’ imperial scale,
And public justice o’er her foes prevail;
Restore the reign of order and of right,
And drive thee, howling, to the shades of night.”