FRENEAU / BRYANT: Basic Info Handout
PHILIP FRENEAU
- Philip Freneau was active as a poet, pamphleteer and political journalist during the whole period surrounding the War of Independence; after the war, he focused on the more conventional poetry
- some distinctly American themes, such as nature, pantheistic spirituality, or Native American culture can be traced in his poetry, even though the form of his poems remains traditional, that is Europe-inspired
- the conviction that America was a long way behind Europe as far as cultural taste and refinement was concerned motivated Freneau and other artists in their attempts to develop American literature; the main problem, however, was the overwhelming competition of European art
''WHITE HONEY SUCKLE''
- the poem reflects a rather new tendency to pay attention to the details of one's natural surroundings and observe them carefully, discovering fascinating things in the hitherto ignored, everyday landscape
- the growingly scientific fascination with nature as a network of life forms was accompanied by a spiritual change from the Puritan imagery contrasting humanity with nature and perceiving the latter as a set of symbols reflecting God's will towards a more pantheistic affirmation of life, depicting humanity as a part of nature
- still, the poem only signals such tendencies; the flower is seen as a symbol, its frailty is emphasized, and the general mood remains close to the 18th-century idyllic attitude towards nature in poetry
- R.D. Arner claims that while most critics see the poem as transitory between the Neoclassical and Romantic style, accusing Frenau of not being Romantic enough, the poem is best appreciated in Neoclassical terms
- one Neoclassical feature diminishes the poem's Americanness: it is universal and operates on the level of intellect rather than individual emotions; the honeysuckle – an American flower – could, in fact, be replaced by any other flower
- the poem reflects the movement from a non-real, suspended, static natural world untouched by the human towards the world exposed to the laws of nature, active and thus frail, doomed to pass on; one can observe the process of the speaker's growing realization of that movement from stanza to stanza, which is reflected by the narrowing down of the time scale in which the flower's existence is measured (from timelessness to mere hours)
- the poem can be read as a Neoclassical ''artifact'' poem about the frail and static nature of beauty
''THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND''
- an obviously American theme; a contrast between the white and the Indian culture, but with a recognition of the latter's specific value
- an acknowledgement of an attitude towards death and afterlife different from the Christian one; death not being the ultimate end, but a change of form, a life going on on a different plane --> a suggestion of the neverending circle of life: these themes will prove very important in the American Romanticism, though here they are barely signaled and safely ascribed to a foreign, ''ruder'' race and culture
- the impact of the Noble Savage theme: Indians depicted as a naturally wise nation, from which white people may learn a lot on the spiritual and moral level; the poem also reflects the stereotype of the Native American as a supernatural/spiritual creature
- both stereotypes can be considered as harmful because they contribute to the cultural and political erasure of Native Americans, who become attached to the past, times to be missed as better, maybe idyllic, but distant and gone; thus, they are denied a place in the country's future, which contributes to their marginalization until this day
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT
- in the 1820s time came for the American emancipation in the realm of culture and art; artists started to seek inspiration in American landscapes and nature, as exemplified by Bryant's poetry, as well as his connections with the Hudson River School of painters
- Bryant's artistic talent was given a chance first of all in his youth, with the first poem, ''Thanatopsis'' (1817) and a short collection of other poems, including ''To a Waterfowl'' in 1821
- his life and personal development reflects broader changes in American culture: brought up in the Calvinist tradition and a politically conservative family, which provided him with a solid classical education, he later turned towards deistic/pantheistic spirituality, became a supporter of democracy and of American Romanticism, which negated the European cultural heritage
- while Bryant's own meditations are not radical, but mitigated by a universality perfectly responding to a Christian interpretation, the tendencies they reflect were definitely significant for the Romantics of the 1830s
- Bryant was the first American poet who enjoyed recognition abroad
''THANATOPSIS''
- his best known poem as well as his debut, written under a slight influence of Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads and their pantheistic spirituality
- the iambic pentameter blank verse and the lack of a division into stanzas makes it close to an ode
- some critics consider the vision presented in the poem as slightly incoherent: the soul is dissolved into elements, but simultaneously preserves its place in the ''innumerable caravan''; the loss of individuality clashes with its preservation, as if Bryant had found it too hard to give up on the Christian concepts entirely
- still, the appeal not to be afraid of death is based not so much on the affirmation of the afterlife in religious terms as on the close connection between life and death in Nature; it is the attunement with Nature that results in the peace of mind and diminishes the fear of death because the natural circle of life makes the barrier separating the dead from the living flexible
- Nature is depicted as an active agent, possessing a higher power which provides the human existence with the spiritual sense; such a presentation of Nature signals tendencies later developed by Transcendentalists
''TO A WATERFOWL''
- the narrator is a casual, but watchful observer of Nature; his attention is attracted by a single and short-lived detail of the landscape: a bird crossing the sky
- that temporary image triggers the narrator's reflection on the divine power, while emphasizing that the man is on equal terms with Nature, not above it; the analogy between him and the bird is balanced
- Nature is a passive teacher – through the observation of nature and meditation, the man may gain spiritual reassurance
- the higher power is named ''He,'' but otherwise does not bear resemblance to the specifically Christian god; it is more impersonal and first of all attached to Nature
- A contemporary poet Richard Wilbur calls ''To a Waterfowl'' ''America's first flawless poem'' as far as the balanced composition, impact and clarity of the message is concerned
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