Phillip Freneau
* [ ]’s indicate that I’m not quite sure how it fits into the context but the text is in my notes for some reason
Background:
Lived from 1752 – 1832
This made him in his 20’s during the revolutionary war – which he participated in – after the war he was a journalist – he was a bit of a political agitator – and eventually became renowned for his poetry
He was a transitional poet – e.g. he lived and wrote in the time between neoclassical beliefs and romantic beliefs and incorporated both into his writings
He incorporated these transitional themes into his poems, often portraying a romantic picture of nature (romantic = wild, asymmetrical, liberal; neoclassical = tamed and controlled, symmetrical, conservative)
On the Emigration to
(see page 351 in literature book for complete text of this poem)
He presents a rhyme scheme of:
A
B
A
B
C
C
[^ one stanza]
In this 10 stanza poem
Stanza I:
Some keywords from this stanza – nature’s wildest genius
This presents a liberal view of nature as being best wild and forces the reader to ask
“What would the puritans have thought of such terms regarding nature?”
~think back to the puritanical [neoclassical] literature – puritans believed that nature belonged tot the devil and that the Indians were basically the devil’s minions – they would have greatly disapproved of this mindset
[not quite sure what this is:
Jean Jaques Rousseau --> thought Indians were noble savages who were not schooled in fundamental knowledge but innately knew it]
Freneau presents freedom from European corruption in
Freneau believes that there is a spirit in wilderness – his beliefs regarding nature go against the teachings of the age of reason
Stanza II
An anti-monarchy mindset that scorns the despot and the crown
Stanza III
- Says that monarchy is a problem that separates people by birth – we take everyone and educate them – why should we care about demographic differences?
Keywords from the passage – “wild” “savage” --> shows a neoclassical fear of the savageries of the wild that nature ought to be about harmony and regularity rather than wilderness
The romantic garden is more natural --> i.e. nature should not be interfered with
[bring up the question about whether good poetry is perfect or “wild” --> should we perfect our works or leave them to our imagination?
Alex Pope – 1688 – 1744; heroic couplets – said “don’t rush into publication, set it [the work] aside for nine years”]
Stanza IV
The Indians migrating westward leaving the charms of
Stanza V
Refers to the Mississippi river as the great sire: the river will now be used by the Americans; it will not just flow uselessly through the middle of
[iunno how this relates but w.e]
Relate to Huck Finn
e.g. 2 con artists come to a raft – one claims to be a duke and demands the other to bow who in turn claims to be a king
Freneau wants to put the river to good use – to make it go where we want it to run in order to best suit our current needs
Stanza VI
The
Stanza VII
Relate this stanza to the puritan idea of providence that will help and guide us through life
Provides intuition and imagination as proof rather than reason –
[on a side note, this has nothing to do with anything but remember that sophistication is the idea that we come from nothingness, have a brief life and return to nothingness – e.g. nothingness – life – nothingness and stresses the brevity and meaninglessness of life]
Neoclassicism celebrated the powers of human reason; prescribed that laws came from reason and that common people had no capability for reasoning [thus uneducated] – believed that reason brings order from confusion and that we needed order over passion, that reason ought to be used to solve problems instead of emotions
Stanza VIII
No kings to enslave people
Stanza IX
Contrasts the freedom of the pioneers going west with the enslavement of the Africans in the southern US
-the common belief was that slavery would ultimately be proven to be a moral evil – that it “will pass away” – that it will work itself out
Stanza X
Prediction of
The Wuild Honey Suckle
[I am going to assume that you know most of this already from writing a paper about it and include only the bare minimum that I feel necessary to alleviate the stress on my fingers and eyes (from deciphering my writing) – facebook or email me with any specific questions]
Rhyme Scheme = ABABCC
Stanza I
Apostrophe = a direct address to a thing [in this case the flower] as though it were human (a kind of personification)
Stanza II
Nature’s self – personification of the power that put the flower in the remote spot
Protected from vulgar eye – neoclassical rejection of the mob – disgust with common people
Stanza III
Speaker’s emotional reaction to the flower – says that the flower will die – has experience in world, no innocence
Presents a harshness to nature “unpitying frosts”
Symbolism:
Frost human without compassion
Decay human nature
Flower human life
Stanza IV
Flower becomes a symbol for shortness of life --> relate to sophistication (see above)
Destroys meaning in life
The Indian Burying Ground
[Once again I have 2 pages of notes about this, and don’t find it terribly interesting/important, I am going to greatly condense it but hit me up with any questions]
10 4-line stanzas, ABAB
I
Questions the posture of how we bury the dead, shouldn’t they be upright as it is life and not sleep we send them to?
II
Natives bury in sitting posture with goods to prepare the people for the world beyond death
Mid 18th century, it was fashionable to go to the churchyard cemetery and read the epitaphs off the grave while contemplating morality – this leads to vampire stories, Poe, the strange and unusual – reason giving way to emotion
III
Freneau connects posture and burial artifacts to unceasing activity of the soul
Perhaps heaven is a repetition, magnification of finer things in life, but we will still have the same roles, e.g. prey will still be hunted but shall not ever pass into nothingness (e.g. sophistication)
IV
[Yah, I have no idea what this means let me know if you do]
Hunting implements = life is spent but not the old ideas, they will continue
V
Addressed to future visitors to the Indian’s graves (e.g. to us)
“Our dead do not lie, they sit”
Commands us to commit no fraud upon the dead
VI
Remains are all that is left of the Indians vanished culture
VII
And elm remains behind under which the children of the forest once played
VIII
Visit of the Indian queen and barbarous warriors who chase away those who linger too long
IX
The ghosts = shades, and still hunt the ghostly deer
X
As it is used, the word fancy means imagination
We fancy we see ghosts of vanished Indians; shadows, delusions --> forerunner of romantics in
I HAVE FOUR PAGES LEFT GODDAMIT
On Mr Paine’s Rights of Man
[I don’t even know who wrote this…]
50 lines of heroic couplets (ABABCDCD – rhyming iambic pentameter – u/u/u/u/u/)
Rights of man vs. the laws of the kings, the attack upon the monarch as source of political slavery
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