author
Joel Barlow
1754–1812
A Revolutionary-era poet with a taste for big ideas, he moved from New England classrooms and army camps into diplomacy on both sides of the Atlantic. He is best remembered for the lively poem The Hasty-Pudding and for a career that tied literature, politics, and the early United States closely together.
1 Audiobook
The Columbiad: A Poem
by Joel Barlow
About the author
Born in Redding, Connecticut, in 1754, Joel Barlow studied at Yale and served as a chaplain during the American Revolution. He later became known as one of the Connecticut Wits, a group of early American writers who tried to shape a distinctly national literature.
Barlow wrote poetry that mixed ambition with humor. His best-known shorter work is The Hasty-Pudding, while his larger project, The Columbiad, aimed at nothing less than a grand poetic vision of America. His writing reflects both his literary confidence and his strong political interests.
He also had a major public career. Barlow lived for years in Europe, supported the French Revolution, and worked as an American diplomat, including service in North Africa and later as minister to France. He died in 1812 while traveling in Europe, leaving behind the image of an author deeply involved in the intellectual and political life of the early republic.