is a long poem that evokes William Penn's luminous vision of America and shows what has become of it as the intractable conflicts of our history—struggles over the land, keeping faith with the Indians, the uses and abuses of power—threaten Penn's ideal. began writing while he was Poet Laureate of the United States, in 1973-74 (the appointment then called Consultant in Poetry of the Library of Congress). Widely hailed, the book was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1981. It is adapted as the libretto for Ezra Laderman's music in the oratorio , premiered by the Philadelphia Singers in March 2000.