{"id":810,"date":"2026-09-29T21:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=810"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:33:51","slug":"from-the-conquest-of-canaan-1785","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=810","title":{"rendered":"from The Conquest of Canaan (1785)"},"content":{"rendered":"

from The<\/em> Conquest of Canaan<\/span><\/i> (1785) <\/span><\/h3>\n
Excerpt from Book IX.
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n

by Timothy Dwight<\/p>\n

Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) was 13 years old in 1765 when he came from his home in Northampton, Massachusetts\u00a0 to New Haven, Connecticut to attend Yale. His father, Major Timothy Dwight (1726-1777), who had graduated from Yale in 1744, was a merchant and farmer who served in the Massachusetts legislature. His mother, Mary Edwards, was the daughter of the formidable preacher Jonathan Edwards, a central figure in the First Great Awakening. Timothy Dwight was first cousins with the politician Aaron Burr.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While living in Fairfield, <\/span>Dwight wrote <\/span>Greenfield Hill<\/span><\/i> (1794), an epic pastoral poem written in seven distinct parts that celebrates the New England way of life.\u00a0 In 1795, Dwight moved to New Haven to serve as Yale College\u2019s eighth president. Under his leadership, which continued until his death in 1817, Yale was transformed into a major center for intellectual and religious thought. He promoted Locke\u2019s <\/span>Essay Concerning the Human Understanding<\/span><\/i> as a keystone for all students and began to move away from ancient languages to the modern arts and sciences. As President of Yale, Dwight turned more and more to prose and wrote mostly sermons.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is believed that Timothy Dwight began work on <\/span><\/i>The Conquest of Canaan, <\/span>widely considered America\u2019s first epic poem, during the American Revolution, though its publication did not happen until after the war. Written in heroic couplets and divided into eleven books, the poem relays the Biblical story of Joshua and the Israelites\u2019 conquest of Canaan. Although seemingly Biblical in nature, the poem is an allegory of the United States\u2019 quest for liberty during the Revolutionary War:\u00a0 Joshua represents General George Washington, the Israelites the Colonists, and Canaan America. In fact, Timothy Dwight dedicated the work to George Washington, \u201cthe Saviour of his Country, the Supporter of Freedom, and the Benefactor of Mankind.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Conquest of Canaan<\/i>, Book IX (excerpt)<\/span><\/h5>\n

The storm retir’d ; the ensigns gave command, <\/span>
\nAnd round their Leader throng’d the conquering band. <\/span>
\nHere sparkling eyes with joy and triumph burn’d;\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here pity silent from the slaughter turn’d; <\/span>
\nHere for fallen friends the tear was seen to flow, <\/span>
\nAnd sighs oft spoke unutterable woe<\/span>
\nWhile Joshua\u2019s thoughts mount upward to the skies, <\/span>
\nAnd fear, and wonder, in his bosom rise<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The stream, the walls they pass’d serenely flow, <\/span>
\nClimb’d the tall hills, and sought the plain below<\/span>
\nThere crown’d with flowers, their wives and children came <\/span>
\nAnd songs rose grateful to th’ Eternal Name\u2014 <\/span>
\nBlessed be the Power divine\u2014 rejoic’d they sung,\u2014\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The green vales echoed, and the forest rung\u2014 <\/span>
\nBless’d be the hand, that clave the conscious sea, <\/span>
\nAnd, rob’d in thunder, swept our foes away ! <\/span>
\nLet endless blessings round our nation rise, <\/span>
\nCheer all our lives, and waft us to the skies!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus strains of rapture charm’d the listening gales, <\/span>
\nWhile the low sun-beam glimmer’d on the vales<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To rest the camp retir’d : ten-thousand fires <\/span>
\nThro’ the calm silence rais’d their bending spires: <\/span>
\nThe bright moon rose ; winds cool’d the chearful even, <\/span>
\nAnd wide magnificence enkindled heaven.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Public domain.\r\n\r\nSource:\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/cocana00dwig\/page\/304\/mode\/2up<\/span><\/a><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
from The Conquest of Canaan (1785) Excerpt from Book IX. \u00a0 by Timothy Dwight Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) was 13 years old in 1765 when he came from his home in Northampton, Massachusetts\u00a0 to New Haven, Connecticut to attend Yale. His father, Major Timothy Dwight (1726-1777), who had graduated from Yale in 1744, was a merchant … Continue reading from The Conquest of Canaan (1785)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[116,48,115,58],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-hartford-wits","tag-freedom","tag-religious-belief","tag-revolution","tag-social-commentary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}