Columbus

“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.