The sonnet laments the decline of elite universities—Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn—originally established on biblical principles to train virtuous leaders. It contrasts their pious beginnings with their current state, portraying them as having fallen into pride, blasphemy, and anti-Semitism, thus betraying their sacred foundations.

Upon the sacred Word their stones were laid,
Harvard and Yale, with Princeton’s hallowed halls,
Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn arrayed,
To train the godly where the Spirit calls.
Their founders knelt in prayer, with humble aim,
To forge a legacy of faith and light,
A beacon bright to bear the Savior’s name,
And guide the lost through sin’s encroaching night.
But lo, the mighty tumble from their grace,
With pride they mock the roots that gave them breath,
Blaspheming truth in halls of sacred space,
Embracing scorn where once was holy depth.
Anti-Semitism stains their learned throng,
How far the righteous fall, how deep the wrong.