{"id":812,"date":"2026-09-29T21:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=812"},"modified":"2026-09-30T17:36:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:36:38","slug":"from-the-anarchiad-1786-1787","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=812","title":{"rendered":"from The Anarchiad \u00a0(1786-1787)"},"content":{"rendered":"

from The Anarchiad or American Antiquities: a poem on the restoration of chaos and substantial night\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(1786-1787)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Excerpt: American Antiquities. \u2013 No. IV. Extract from The Anarchiad, Book XXIII<\/h6>\n

by David Humphreys, Joel Barlow, John Trumbull, and Lemuel Hopkins <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Lemuel Hopkins (1750-1801), principal author of <\/span>The Anarchiad<\/span><\/i>, 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 \u201ccures\u201d such as donkey\u2019s milk instead cow\u2019s 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.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hartford Wits together wrote a satirical poem called \u201cThe Anarchiad or American antiquities: a poem on the restoration of chaos and substantial night,\u201d which was published in 12 installments in the <\/span><\/i>New Haven Gazette and the Connecticut magazine <\/span>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\u2019 patriotism for the United States of America and their fear that the fledgling states\u2019 disorganization and varying interests would prevent the country from staying united.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

American Antiquities<\/em> \u2013 No. IV<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Sister of Freedom! heaven\u2019s imperial child!\u202f<\/span>
\nSerenely stern, beneficently mild,\u202f<\/span>
\nBlest Independence! rouse my sons to fame,\u202f<\/span>
\nInspire their bosoms with thy sacred flame!\u202f<\/span>
\nTeach, ere too late, their blood-bought rights to prize,<\/span>
\nBid other GREENES and WASHINGTONS arise!\u202f<\/span>
\nTeach those who suffer\u2019d for their country\u2019s good,\u202f<\/span>
\nWho strove for freedom, and who toil\u2019d in blood,\u202f<\/span>
\nOnce more, in arms, to make the glorious stand,\u202f<\/span>
\nAnd bravely die, or save their natal land.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they shall rise, terrific in their rage,\u202f<\/span>
\nAnd crush the factions of the faithless age;\u202f<\/span>
\nBid laws again exalt th\u2019 imperial scale,\u202f<\/span>
\nAnd public justice o\u2019er her foes prevail;\u202f<\/span>
\nRestore the reign of order and of right,<\/span>
\nAnd drive thee, howling, to the shades of night.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from The Anarchiad or American Antiquities: a poem on the restoration of chaos and substantial night\u00a0(1786-1787) Excerpt: American Antiquities. \u2013 No. IV. Extract from The Anarchiad, Book XXIII by David Humphreys, Joel Barlow, John Trumbull, and Lemuel Hopkins \u00a0 Dr. Lemuel Hopkins (1750-1801), principal author of The Anarchiad, was known as an innovative physician who … Continue reading from The Anarchiad \u00a0(1786-1787)<\/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":[116,32,31,115,57,58],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-hartford-wits","tag-freedom","tag-poem","tag-poetry","tag-revolution","tag-satire","tag-social-commentary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","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=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":820,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}