Masterpieces of American Literature
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Philip Freneau

Freneua was a colorful, loyal Revolutionary but opposed George Washington's Federalism.

To Freneau's Poems
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Philip Freneau was an outspoken critic of British rule.  He became to many the "Poet of the Revolution."  To George Washington, he was that "rascal Freneau" (which term in the 1700's was a harsh criticism).
Living from 1752-1832, Freneau's career was checkered.  A journalist, editor and writer for the the Freeman's Journal [Philidelphia] from 1781-1784, he was pain the side of the Federalists and their concept of American form of Government.  He is considered more of Jeffersonian. His fortunes fell.  He turned to the mercant marine, serving as ship's captain for many years.

He is best remembered for his poetry.  In many respects, his poetry anticipates the Romanicism poetry of the early 1800's.

He is often known as the Poet of American Independence: Freneau provides incentive and inspiration to the  revolution by writing such poems as "The Rising Glory of America" and "Pictures  of Columbus."  Freneau is often also known as Father of American Poetry: His major themes are death, nature,  transition, and the human in nature. All of these themes become important in  19th century writing. His famous poems are "The Wild Honey-Suckle" (1786), "The  Indian Burying Ground" (1787), "The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi" (1784), "The  Millennium" (1797), "On a Honey Bee" (1809), "To a Caty-Did" (1815), "On the  Universality and Other Attributes of the God of Nature," "On the Uniformity and  Perfection of Nature," and "On the Religion of Nature" (the  last three written  in 1815).
       
Source: Reuban, Paul. Perspectives in American Literature, U of California at Stanislaus, 3 October 2011. Web, 9 August, 2013. [By permission]

For a thorough treatment of Freneau, visit Prof. Donna Campbell's website at Washington State University.
To Website on Freneau
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  • Home
    • What is STORY
    • The Elements of Fiction
    • What Is A Short Story
    • Literary Theory Guide
  • Lit. 214
    • Class Presentations
  • Colonial Period
    • Native American >
      • Red Jacket's Speech
      • Story Collections
      • Lyrics, Poems and Chants
    • Spanish Explorers
    • Early Colonial >
      • New England Primer
      • Anne Bradstreet
      • Mary Rowlandson
      • John Winthrop
      • John Smith
      • Colonial Song Lyrics
    • Colonial and Revolutionary >
      • Readings >
        • Ben Franklin >
          • Advice on the Choice of a Mistress
          • Excerpts from The Autobiography
          • A Tale
        • Phyllis Wheatly >
          • Poems
        • Thomas Paine >
          • Common Sense
        • Philip Freneau >
          • Freneau Poems
        • Thomas Jefferson >
          • Writings
        • Jupiter Hammon >
          • An Evening Thought
      • Lyrics
  • Romantic Period
    • Elements of American Romanticism
    • Authors >
      • Washington Irving >
        • Irving's Place >
          • Irving's Place2
        • Irving on the Tale
        • Rip Van Winkle
        • Rip 2
        • Rip 3
        • Poetry
      • James Fenimore Cooper >
        • LOTH Silent Movie
        • Chapter 32
        • Chapter 32 B
      • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. >
        • Selected Poems
      • Ralph Waldo Emerson >
        • Selected Writings
        • Transcendentalism
      • Edgar Allen Poe >
        • Poe's Approach to Fiction
        • Life of Poe
        • Selected Poems
        • "The Raven"
        • The Black Cat
        • The Tell-Tale Heart
      • William Cullen Bryant >
        • Bryants Poems
      • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow >
        • Selected Poetry
      • Margaret Fuller
      • Fanny Fern
      • Herman Melville >
        • Moby Dick
      • Nathaniel Hawthorne >
        • Scarlett Letter Excepts
        • Young Goodman Brown
      • C. Clement Moore
    • Lyrics >
      • Folk / Gospel
      • Parlor Music
      • Music Hall
      • Stephen Foster >
        • Music
      • George Root
  • Civil War Period
    • 1850 - 1861 >
      • Harriet Anne Jacobs
      • Francis Harper
      • Frederick Douglass
      • Songs of Protest, Freedom, Sadness
    • 1861 - 1866 >
      • Julie Ward Howe
      • Emily Dickinson
      • Walt Whitman >
        • Excerpts
      • Abraham Lincoln
      • Louisa May Alcott
      • Misc. Poets
      • Warriors & Memoirs
    • Civil War Songs