The Columbiad

Joel Barlow spent decades reworking an early poem about Columbus into this sprawling epic, finally published in 1807. Cast as a vision shown to the imprisoned explorer, it moves past the discovery of the New World to trace what Barlow saw as humanity’s long climb toward reason, liberty, and self-government, ending in a dream of nations gathered in peace. He wrote with Homer and Milton openly in mind, and the poem’s confident, secular optimism drew both praise and sharp attack in its day. Read now, it is a revealing record of how the young American republic imagined its own future and its place in world history. Free to read as a PDF and EPUB edition.