Barlow, Joel

Barlow, Joel
born March 24, 1754, Redding, Connecticut Colony [U.S.]
died Dec. 24, 1812, Żarnowiec, Pol.

U.S. writer and poet.

He was a member of the group of young writers known as the Hartford (or Connecticut) Wits, whose patriotism led them to attempt to create a national literature. He became famous for his Vision of Columbus (1787), a poetic paean to America, but is remembered primarily for The Hasty Pudding (1796), a mock-heroic epic poem inspired by homesickness for New England.

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▪ American writer
born March 24, 1754, Redding, Connecticut Colony
died Dec. 24, 1812, Zarnowiec, Pol.

      public official, poet, and author of the mock-heroic poem The Hasty Pudding.

      A graduate of Yale, he was a chaplain for three years in the Revolutionary Army. In July 1784 he established at Hartford, Conn., a weekly paper, the American Mercury. In 1786 he was admitted to the bar. Along with John Trumbull and Timothy Dwight, he was a member of the group of young writers, known as the Connecticut, or Hartford, Wits, whose patriotism led them to attempt to create a national literature. Barlow's Vision of Columbus (1787), a poetic paean to America in nine books, brought the author immediate fame.

      In 1788 Barlow went to France as the agent of the Scioto Land Company and induced the company of Frenchmen who ultimately founded Gallipolis, Ohio, to emigrate to America. In Paris he became a liberal in religion and an advanced republican in politics. In England he published various radical essays, including Advice to the Privileged Orders (1792), proscribed by the British government. In 1792 he was made a French citizen. Thomas Paine (Paine, Thomas) had become his friend in England, and during Paine's imprisonment in Paris Barlow effected the publication of The Age of Reason.

      In 1795–97 he was sent to Algiers to secure a release of U.S. prisoners and to negotiate treaties with Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis. He returned to the United States in 1805 and lived near Washington, D.C., until 1811, when he became U.S. plenipotentiary to France. He became involved in Napoleon's retreat from Russia and died in Poland of exposure.

      In addition to religious verse and political writings, Barlow published an enlarged edition of his Vision of Columbus entitled The Columbiad (1807), considered by some to be more mature than the original but also more pretentious. His literary reputation now rests primarily on The Hasty Pudding (1796), which has appeared in many anthologies. A pleasant and humorous mock epic inspired by homesickness for New England and cornmeal mush, it contains vivid descriptions of rural scenes.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Barlow,Joel — Bar·low (bärʹlō ), Joel. 1754 1812. American poet and diplomat in Algiers (1795 1797). Among his noted poetic works are “The Hasty Pudding” (1796) and the epic Columbiad (1807). * * * …   Universalium

  • BARLOW, JOEL —    an American poet and diplomatist; for his Republican zeal, was in 1792 accorded the rights of citizenship in France; wrote a poem The Vision of Columbus (1755 1812) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Barlow, Joel — (1754 1812)    Poet, b. at Reading, Connecticut, served for a time as an army chaplain, and thereafter betook himself to law, and finally to commerce and diplomacy, in the former of which he made a fortune. He was much less successful as a poet… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Barlow, Joel —    см. Барло, Джоэл …   Писатели США. Краткие творческие биографии

  • Joel Barlow — (* 24. März 1754 in Redding, Connecticut; † 22. Oktober 1812 in Żarnowiec bei Krakau, Polen) war ein amerikanischer Dichter, Staatsmann und politischer Schriftsteller …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joël Barlow — Joel Barlow Pour les articles homonymes, voir Barlow. Joel Barlow, né en 1755 dans le Connecticut et mort en 1812 en Pologne, est un poète et diplomate américain Il prit part dans sa première jeunesse à la guerre d indépendance. Il fut à la fois… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joel Barlow — Dibujo de Joel Barlow. Joel Barlow (24 de marzo de 1754 – 26 de diciembre de 1812), fue un poeta y político estadounidense. Biografía Barlow nació en Redding, Fairfield County …   Wikipedia Español

  • Joel Barlow — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Barlow. Joel Barlow, né en 1755 dans le Connecticut et mort en 1812 en Pologne, est un poète et diplomate américain Il prit part dans sa première jeunesse à la guerre d indépendance. Il fut à la fois ministre… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joel — /joh euhl/, n. 1. a Minor Prophet of the postexilic period. 2. a book of the Bible bearing his name. 3. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning the Lord is God. * * * I Second of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, author of the …   Universalium

  • Joel Barlow — (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812), American poet and politicianBiographyBarlow was born in Redding, Fairfield County, Connecticut. He briefly attended Dartmouth College before graduating from Yale University in 1778, where he was also a post… …   Wikipedia

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