Philip Freneau's The Wild Honey Suckle, And Eutaw Springs

Philip Freneau was a very prolific writer, being called of the “most important literary figures” (Bowden 1) during the Revolution of America. Some of his works that best define his writing style are “On a Honey Bee,” “The Wild Honey Suckle,” “The Indian Burying Ground,” “The American Soldier,” and “Eutaw Springs” Freneau’s use of memorable symbolism, detailed descriptions, and progressive political themes have made his poems cherished to this day.
Born January 2nd, 1752 in New York, Freneau had a simple upbringing. School and church became his expected focus throughout his childhood, as not much else is known from up until his adolescent years. He entered into the College of New Jersey in 1767, studying theology and dabbling in writing. It’s …show more content…
But one can quickly dismiss this as there is a much more informative understanding what the representation of the flower is and what more can be understand from what follows. The beginning of the poem describes the flower as being untouched and unseen from what can be assumed is other plant life, but what sets the poem into deeper comprehension by stating that no foot or hand can harm this plant where it is. In the mention of hand and foot that the human aspect is brought into analyze the real representation of the plant, as Freneau goes on to refer to the flower as she, make the flower a human woman. With a basic understanding of this it goes on to be further understood that the woman goes through her life as represented by the flower, with her birth being protected from the dangers of the world, to the reference of the coming of Autumn as a time when she may wilt and …show more content…
It may have been difficult in Freneau’s time in being a poet or writer and not having had some sort of political influence reflected in your works. America was in its foundation for greatness, which Freneau took to bring awareness of the affects brought by the Revolutionary War. “The American Soldier” is a poem by Freneau, Freneau writes of an American war veteran left with practically nothing but old wounds and the pains that follow the horrors of armed conflict. The soldier goes on the reminisce of times spent in the service, with the long hours of labor by hands and leading to the poverty in which the soldier was forced in to by the economic struggles of the American soldiers compared to the wealth of the British military. He goes in to describe a form of envy for how the British were living in much more lavish homes than those of the settlers, while he is left with what could be imagined as a much smaller and adequate home to live in. In the undoubtedly unsettling ending of this poem is the veteran’s own wife made to represent leaving “him” with famine and his name. In the poems that revolved around the Revolution at the time and its negative affects, its Freneau that brought light to the fact that veterans that were in war were left with broken homes, poverty, and hunger as a result of the costs in involvement in war. Freneau’s poem is made more accurate as he himself was shown the worst of