18 pages • 36 minutes read
Joaquin MillerColumbus
Nonfiction | Poem | Middle Grade | Published in 1900A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Defence [sic]of the Alamo” by Joaquin Miller (1892)
Miller’s romantic temperament and love of feats of derring-do is also on display in his 1892 poem, “The Defence [sic] of the Alamo,” in which he describes a heroic but doomed battle. This poem also gives readers a stronger sense of Miller’s literary style, while reinforcing the key thematic preoccupations found in much of his work: a love of adventure, the idealization of heroism, and an unshakeable belief in going up against the odds.
“Columbus” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1879)
Written nearly a decade and a half before Miller’s poem, Tennyson’s poem represents a more nuanced take on Columbus in terms of his psychological state and the impact his voyage may have had upon him. As one of the most famous English poets of the 19th century, Tennyson embodies many of the major stylistic and thematic elements in vogue in English literature during Miller’s time.
“Columbus” by James Russell Lowell (1844)
This poem is view of Columbus and his voyage from earlier in the century, written by a fellow American poet James Russell Lowell. This poem is lengthier and denser than Miller’s, offering a more complex and more “literary” take on Columbus’s feelings and motivations. Readers wishing to better understand the literary discourse surrounding Columbus during the century may find value in reading and contrasting Lowell’s poem with Miller’s.
Further Literary Resources
“Nineteenth-Century American and British Poets on Columbus” by Anita G. Gorman (1993)
This is an article by the American scholar Anita G. Gorman offering some contextual information and literary analysis of the poems of Miller, Lowell, Tennyson, and their contemporaries on the theme of Columbus and his voyages of discovery. The article is relatively brief and written in an accessible style, and raises some objections to the idealization of Columbus found in works like Miller’s.
“Joaquin Miller: Bio and Selected Poems” from My Poetic Side
The literary website My Poetic Side offers some biographical information on Miller, and the full texts of several of his poems. Readers can learn more about Miller’s life and gain further exposure to his poetry.
“Joaquin Miller: American Poet” from Britannica
This is an article in the Britannica encyclopedia about Joaquin Miller, presenting some facts (insofar as they can be known) about his life and an overview of his major published works. Britannica is an authoritative reference source in terms of biographical information, and a good starting point for any reader seeking to discover the names and dates of other works by Miller that they may wish to read.
Listen to Poem
Here is an audio recording, with musical accompaniment, of “Columbus” performed by American actor Brian Donlevy. Donlevy’s reading is clear and expressive, lending emotional weight to the delivery of the poem.
