The Columbiad is an epic poem that celebrates America. It opens with Christopher Columbus in prison, despondent and feeling poorly rewarded for his great achievements. He is visited by Hesper, represented as the guardian genius of the lands to the west of Europe. He leads Columbus in a vision of the western hemisphere: its physical description, its native people, and the history of North and South America. They see the Aztec and Inca empires, the settling of America by Europeans, ...

The life and career of a Poet is often thought of as musing at a desk, or lying in a meadow, or on long journeys to find inspiration for their next masterwork. But more often than not a poet was a part-time profession in subservient submission to their actual, salary-paying job.In this volume we bring together those professionals whose skills are based on using words to achieve the ambitions, policies, desires and sleights of hand of their Governments and institutions. This calcula...