February 7th Class Post

Today in class we discussed the poems of Philip Freneau, a neoclassic and pre-romantic poet. We first discussed the two poems titiled, "To the Memory of the Brave Americans" and "The Indian Burial Ground". In the first, Freneau writes specifically about General Green, a general of the American Revolution who fell in battle in South Carolina in 1781. We discusssed in class how the author romanticizes Greene by describing him as a hero and his motivations as valiant and noble. We specifically referenced the spear mentioned in the fifth stanza. This spear has two possible meanings, either referring to a bygone age when knights in shining armor used spears, or two a barbaric present. In class, we also discussed specifically the Parthian mentioned in the next to last stanza. The Parthians were a civilization in Iran that were famed for their prowess on horseback and with archery, and Freneau likens the retreating British to the Parthians, who could fire backwards in the saddle
We also discussed "The Indian Burial Ground". In it, Freneau describes the burial ground of a long dead Indian. He specifically incoroporates several examples from nature such as the elm, the rock, etc. At first, there was somewhat of a disagreement in the class whether this poem was positive or negative towards native americans. We first came to the conclusion that the poem was clearly pre-romantic, as shown clearly by reasons submission to emotion in the final stanza. Also, it became clear that Freneau was proposing something new when it came to Indians, that they actually had a soul and could go to heaven. Running contrary to previous European thought, this concept would eventually evolve into the idea of the noble savage.
After this lengthy discussion, whe also discussed "The Wild Honey-Suckle" and "The Republican Genius of Europe". In "Honey-Suckle", we discussed how Freneau clearly had romantic leanings as he was describing a simple flower in nature. In "Republican Genius", he writes in a much more agressive style, describing the genius as a vengeful and wrathful god bearing down upon those in Europe clinging to monarchical ideas, a style that is very different from the placid manner of the earlier poems.
Throughout class, we discussed romanticism, its failing, its development, and its applicability to the poems. We were told that romanticism originates from urbanization, nationalism, and industrialization, and dies with war. Romanticism was the farthest swing of the pendulum when writers become convinced that man is essentially good. Furthermore, there were three distinct flavors of romanticism - early romantics, romantics concerned with the human mind, and transcendentals. Romanticism played a crucial role in our discussion and will continue to do so.