Philip Freneau was the first American born poet, who earned a reputation as a revolutionary pamphleteer satirizing the British in the struggle for American independence.
Poet of the Revolution
Poet Philip Freneau was born in New York, 2 January 1752. He is the first American born poet. Other first American poets include Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, who were both born in England. And, of course, the first African-American poet is Phillis Wheatley, who was born in Senegal, Africa.
Known as “Poet of the Revolution,” Freneau helped foster the revolutionary spirit that helped the country become independent not only politically but emotionally and spiritually as well. His satires of the British helped American citizens gauge the gravity of the new country’s struggle.
Freneau had been a roommate of James Madison while they studied Princeton. After graduation, Freneau went into teaching, but later decided that field was not for him. His satirical pamphlets earned him popular fame in 1775.
Father of American Poetry
Because of his influence in both the literary and political world, Freneau earned the title of “Father of American Poetry” as well as “Poet of the Revolution.” Romantic and religious by nature, Freneau, nevertheless, became active in the revolutionary politics of his era. The struggle for independence from Britain and the founding of a new government were issues that thoughtful young men of the day could hardly avoid.
Yet, Freneau continued writing creatively throughout his life, even as he earned his living as a farmer and a sea captain. He also worked as a journalist. He traveled to the West Indies in 1776, and while there he wrote The House of Night, which F. L. Pattee called the “first distinctly romantic note heard in America.”
Freneau was first and foremost a poet as well as a deeply spiritual human being. He preferred musing on God and nature to writing about political issues, as the following except from his poem “To an Author” suggests: “On these bleak climes by fortune thrown / Where rigid reason reigns alone, / Where lovely fancy has no sway, / Nor magic forms about us play— / Nor nature takes her summer hue, / Tell me, what has the muse to do?”
“To a Honey Bee”
Freneau’s “To a Honey Bee” is a delightful little poem that exemplifies the poet’s romantic and spiritual nature. The speaker in the poem is enjoying a glass of wine on the shore of lake, when a honey bee settles on his glass. The speaker then poses a series of questions to the bee, asking him why would a creature meant to drink from lakes, springs, or streams be trying to drink wine from a glass. He muses that “Bacchus” tempted the bee to come there.
The speaker continues questioning and musing about the bee’s activities and intentions, and he likens the bee to mankind. He then admits that the bee could have found a worse place to visit than “on the margin of this lake.” He welcomes the bee to share his wine and asserts, “This fluid never fails to please, / And drown the griefs of men or bees.” Then he warns the bee that drinking to deep of such fluid can cause death.
Finally, the speaker tells the visitor to do as he pleases, and if his pleasure results in fatality, “And your grave will be this glass of wine, / Your epitaph—a tear; / Go, take your seat in Charon’s boat; / We ’ll tell the hive, you died afloat.”
Such fun poems reveal that the “Father of American Poetry,” who was also the “Poet of the Revolution,” enjoyed his musing more than fussing over politics.
