It was published in 1787 by subscription, the subscribers including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Louis XVI of France. In tone the poem is overtly Christian, and is coloured by Barlow's political sympathies, which were then Federalist. Its panoramic range includes the whole history of both North and South America, and culminates in the Revolutionary War and the glorious post-Revolutionary future of the United States. A hymn of praise to America written in nine books, The Vision of Columbus took the form of a dialogue between Christopher Columbus and an angel. The Columbiad had its origins in The Vision of Columbus, a philosophical poem begun in 1780 and continued through Barlow's service as a military chaplain in the American Revolutionary War. Intended as a national epic for the United States, it was popular with the reading public and compared with Homer, Virgil and Milton. It grew out of Barlow's earlier poem The Vision of Columbus (1787). The Columbiad (1807) is a philosophical epic poem by the American diplomat and man of letters Joel Barlow.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |