Inevitably Timothy Dwight's poems will be reprinted, and among
them The Triumph of Infidelity, the satirical narrative of 778
lines in which Satan visits America, speaks lengthily on the progress of
"infidelity" since the birth of Christ, and then contrives the downfall of all
Americans by inspiring the Reverend Charles Chauncy to preach the
anti-Calvinist doctrine of universal salvation. The poem was twice published
anonymously, "in the world," in 1788. Although the texts of the two
editions differ from one another at many points, and although the poem is
in current use even to the extent that parts of it are assigned in sophomore
surveys, there has been no serious attempt to establish the sequence of these
editions or to determine a proper text. On several grounds a tentative case
for ordering the editions can be made. At one point, at least, establishing
a proper text is important to the interpretation of the poem, which, in any
case, has frequently been misunderstood by
the critics.
