‘She lights her fire’

William Ellery Channing

“I sing New England, as she lights her fire
In every Prairie’s midst; and where the bright
Enchanting stars shine pure through Southern night,
She still is there, the guardian on the tower,
To open for the world a purer hour.”

― William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), Boston-based Unitarian minister and theologian. Late in life he became an avid abolitionist. For many years, he was the minister at the now-long-gone Federal Street Church.

Federal Street Church, built in 1809

A bit of cultural arrogance

"I sing New England, as she lights her fire
In every Prairie's midst; and where the bright
Enchanting stars shine pure through Southern night,
She still is there, the guardian on the tower,
To open for the world a purer hour.''

William Ellery Channing, "New England''