The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3)

93

Lord Percy was at the head of the reinforcements which rescued the British regulars on their retreat from Concord and Lexington, and it was under his leadership that the disastrous retreat was continued to Boston.

94

"I believe the fact, stripped of all coloring," Washington wrote six weeks later on, "to be plainly this: that if the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was (and God knows it could not have been more so), the ministerial troops must have surrendered or been totally cut off." —Trevelyan's American Revolution.

95

"In this battle, in which not more than one hour was spent in actual fighting, the British loss in killed and wounded was 1,054… The American loss, mainly incurred at the rail fence and during the hand-to-hand struggle at the redoubt, was 449." —Fiske's American Revolution.

96

Burgoyne, in one of his letters, declares that "a pound of fresh mutton could only be bought for its weight in gold."

97

Gage's inertness and procrastination were a constant source of ridicule both in England and America. No man was ever more severely criticised. Hume even branded him as a contemptible coward.

98

In the 1786 edition the title is "The Desolate Academy." In place of the first six lines above, the 1786 edition had the following:

"Subjected to despotic ruleOnce in this dome I went to school,Where Pedro Passive held his reign,The tyrant of a small domain."

99

In the 1786 edition the title is "The Sea-Faring Bachelor;" in 1795 it was changed to "Advice to a Friend."

100

"And seek a bride – for few can findThe sea a mistress to their mind." —Ed. 1786.

101

The first trace that I can find of this poem is in the Oct. 18, 1775, issue of Anderson's Constitutional Gazette, where it has the title, "Reflections on Gage's Letter to Gen. Washington of Aug. 13." It was published in the 1786 edition with the title, "On the Conqueror of America shut up in Boston. Published in New York, August 1775." The 1795 edition changed the title to "The Misnomer." I have followed the title and text of the 1809 edition.

102

General Gage's proclamation, issued June 12, 1775, was as follows: "Whereas the infatuated multitudes, who have long suffered themselves to be conducted by certain well-known incendiaries and traitors, in a fatal progression of crimes against the constitutional authority of the state, have at length proceeded to avowed rebellion, and the good effects which were expected to arise from the patience and lenity of the king's government have been often frustrated, and are now rendered hopeless by the influence of the same evil counsels, it only remains for those who are intrusted with the supreme rule, as well for the punishment of the guilty as the protection of the well-affected, to prove that they do not bear the sword in vain."

103

"The hopeful general." —Constitutional Gazette.

104

On June 11, Washington had written Gage, among other things, "that the officers engaged in the cause of liberty and their country, who by the fortune of war had fallen into your hands, have been thrown indiscriminately into a common gaol appropriated for felons," and threatening retaliation in like cases, "exactly by the rule you shall observe towards those of ours now in your custody." To this Cage replied, on the 13th: "Britons, ever pre-eminent in mercy, have outgone common examples, and overlooked the criminal in the captive. Upon these principles your prisoners, whose lives, by the law of the land, are destined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and kindness," &c. —Duyckinck.

105

"Gage shall be." —Gazette.

106

"Black monster." —Gazette.

107

The Gazette version adds here the lines,

"Nay, with himself, ere freedom sent to quellHad seen the lowest lurking place of hell."

108

"British clemency." —Ed. 1786.

109

"Their past records show." —Ed, 1786. "Gage already lets us know." —Gazette.

110

"The viper foe." —Gazette.

111

This and the preceding line not in the earlier versions. In place of them the Gazette has the lines:

"Spoil'd of their shrouds and o'er Canadia's plainsBe hung aloft to terrify in chains."

112

The Gazette version ends the poem from this point as follows:

"Let Baker's head be snatch'd from infamy,And Carleton's Popish scull be fixt on high,And all like him o'er St. John's castle swing,To show that freedom is no trifling thing."

113

"Their tyrant of a king." —Ed. 1786.

114

"Blackbird." —Ed. 1786.

115

"In groves of half distinguish'd light." —Ib.

116

"General Gage's Confession" was printed in pamphlet form in 1775. As far as I can ascertain, there exists but a single copy of this publication, that in the possession of the Library Company of Philadelphia. A manuscript note upon this copy, unquestionably the handwriting of Freneau, is as follows: "By Gaine. Published October 25, 1775." The poem was manifestly written after Gage's recall. The poet never reprinted it.

117

On July 28, 1775, George III. wrote to Lord North: "I have desired Lord Dartmouth to acquaint Lt. G. Gage that as he thinks nothing further can be done this campaign in the province of Massachusetts Bay that he is desired instantly to come over, that he may explain the various wants for carrying on the next campaign." "It was a kindly pretext devised to spare the feelings of an unprofitable but a faithful and a brave servant." —Trevelyan. General Gage embarked at Boston for England, Oct. 12, 1775.

118

The scarcity of provisions in the British camp during the siege of Boston has been already alluded to. "When marauding expeditions," says Bancroft, "returned with sheep and hogs and cattle captured from islands, the bells were rung as for victory."

119

Alluding to the proclamation of June 12, five days before Bunker Hill, which established martial law throughout Massachusetts and proscribed Hancock and Samuel Adams. By this proclamation, all who were in arms about Boston, every member of the State Government and of the Continental Congress, were threatened with condign punishment as rebels and traitors.

120

Washington had written to Gage, remonstrating against the cruel treatment of certain American officers, who were denied the privileges and immunities due their rank. Almost the last official act of Gage was to reply through Burgoyne in a letter addressed to "George Washington, Esqr.," that "Britons, ever pre-eminent in mercy, have overlooked the criminal in the captive. Your prisoners, whose lives by the law of the land are destined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and kindness; – indiscriminately, it is true, for I acknowledge no rank that is not derived from the King."

121

This poem is unique in the 1788 edition of Freneau's works. It is evidently an earlier version of the "Mars and Hymen" below.

122

This poem seems first to have appeared in the edition of 1786, where it bore the title, "Female Frailty. Written November 1775." Freneau made use of the opening speeches of Damon and Lucinda in his drama, The Spy. He omitted the poem from the 1795 edition of his works, retaining, however, the opening lyric, which he entitled "The Northern Soldier." The poem was reprinted in the edition of 1809, the text of which I have used. The poet edited the earlier version with great care, making verbal variations in almost every line, and adding lines and even stanzas. I have marked only a few of the more notable changes.

123

"And, say what you please, he will never return." —Ed. 1786.

124

"With anguish and sorrow my bosom did burn,And I wept, being sure he would never return." – Ib.

125

"With his soldiers." —Ib.

126

"Then why should I longer my sorrows adjourn? —You may call me a fool if he ever return." – Ib.

127

Not in the earliest version.

128

"Hearts once united." —Ed. 1786.

129

"Never yet was reason foundSo distracted with love's woundAs to be in sorrow drown'd." – Ib.

130

"Planted round with cypress trees." —Ed. 1786.

131

Four lines beginning with this not in original version.

132

"Shrouded all with darkness o'er." —Ib.

133

"'Come away! and speed thy flight,All with me is endless light.'" – Ib.

134

"The breast that heaves a sigh." —Ed. 1786.

135

"A lover gone away?" —Ib.

136

"Let us, like them, forget our woe,And not be kill'd with sorrow." – Ed. 1786.

137

"Censorious Chloe." —Ib.

138

"While laughing folly hears." —Ib.

139

"Death's arrest." —Ed. 1786.

140

"My lovely lass." —Ib.

141

"If you had once a soldier's guise,The splendid coat, the sprightly air,You might seem charming in these eyes,Nor would I quite despair." —Ed. 1786.

142

"His handsome shape, his manly face,His youthful step in you I trace —All, all I wish for, but the lace." —Ib.

143

The following eleven lines not in the original version.

144

The 1786 version ended as follows:

ThyrsisFor you I would forego my ease,And traverse lakes, or ravage seas,And dress in lace, or what you please.This enchanting month of May,So bright, so bloomy, and so gay,Claims our nuptials on this day.For her vernal triumphs, weTune the harp to symphony —Conquest has attended me.Brightest season for the mind,Vigorous, free, and unconfin'd,Golden age of human kind.Still at variance with thy charmsDeath's eternal empire stands —Hymen, come – while rapture warms,And give Lucinda to my arms.

145

I can find only two versions of this poem: that in the 1786 edition of the poet, which I have reproduced, and that in the 1809 edition, in which the title is changed to "A Satire in Answer to a Hostile Attack. [First written, and published 1775.]" From the nature of the concluding lines of the poem, it may be inferred that it was the last work done by the poet before starting on his voyage to the West Indies, late In November. I have not been able to find a trace of the hostile attack in the newspapers or publications of the period, or of the original publication of "Mac Swiggen." The poem was omitted from the 1795 edition, only the first eight lines being used in the short poem "To Shylock Ap-Shenken." The poet made many verbal changes for the later edition, but I have marked only the most significant.

146

"Urge your little soul to cruelty." —Ed. 1809.

147

"Castle." —Ed. 1809.

148

"Meant you harm." —Ib.

149

"Thou bright genius." In each case where Mac Swiggen is used in the earlier version, it is changed later. – "This giant," "Sangrado," "dear satirist," "a green goose," "scribbler," and "insect," are supplied in its place.

150

Of the ninety-four remaining lines of the poem, fifty were taken from the satires written by the poet while in college, in the war between the Whig and Cliosophic Societies. Many of the lines were much changed. The portion used by Freneau may be said to comprise all of the three early satires that could be quoted with decency.

151

This line and the one following not in the Clio-Whig satires.

152

This line and the one following not in the Clio-Whig satires.

153

This line and the seven following not in the Clio-Whig satires.

154

This line and the seven following not in the Clio-Whig satires.

155

Six lines not in Clio-Whig satires.

156

The remainder of the poem not in the Clio-Whig satires.

157

The text is from the edition of 1786, which contains the only complete version. The poem was first published in the August number of The United States Magazine, 1779, which also contained the following note: "'The House of Night', a poem in the present number of the Magazine, is from a young gentleman who has favoured us with several original pieces in the course of this work; and readers of taste will no doubt be pleased with it, as perfectly original both in the design and manner of it." It bore the title "The House of Night; or, Six Hours Lodging with Death, A Vision," and the quotation:

"Felix qui potiut rerum cognoscere causas,Atque metus omnes et inexorable FatumSubjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.Virg. Georg. II., v. 490."

As printed in the magazine it consisted of seventy-three stanzas, which coincide with the following numbers of the 1786 edition: 3, 4, 6-10, 12, 14, 18, 20-26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 47-54, 58, 59, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72, 74, 75, 78, 79, 86, 87, 94, 96-100, 102-106, 111, 113-115, 117, 118, 125-127, 130, 131. Following are the variations:

Line 10, "eternal light"; 11, "a deeper scene"; 21, "the mind cannot recall"; 23, "where Chesapeque's deep rivers upward flow"; 25, "Though then the woods, in fairest vernal bloom"; 28, "childless tree"; 29, "a friendly star"; 35, "Hoarse roaring wolves, and nightly roving bears"; 37, "Fierce from the loudly sounding Chesapeque"; 45, 46, "When to my view a pile of buildings stood, And near, a garden of autumnal hue"; 55, "The yew, the willow"; 69, "Peace to those buildings; when at once I heard"; 70, "in a remoter dome"; 77, "a superior chamber"; 78, "Confused murmurs, scarce distinguish'd sounds"; 81, "Long were their feuds, for they design'd to talk"; 95, "And from a bed behind a curtain veil"; 97, "Turning to view from whence the murmur came"; 99, "Death, dreary death, upon the gloomy couch"; 100, "in rueful form"; 101, "High o'er his head"; 109, 110, "Sad was his aspect, if we so can call, That aspect where but skin and bones were seen"; 111, "deep and low"; 121, 122, "Then at my hand I saw a comely youth, Of port majestic, who began to tell"; 126, "The monarch"; 127, "melancholy reign"; 185, "the man"; 186, "with frightful tone"; 188, "To answer, and"; 192, "their sickly stores"; 194, "the placid main"; 195, "fine groves"; 196, "Beckoning his footsteps"; 198, "The summer winds, and of the church-yard hoar"; 202, "Of fevers and contagions"; 206, "Arise, make search"; 229, 230, "But now refresh'd, the phantoms rais'd his head, And writhing, seem'd to aim once more to talk"; 232, "expiring death"; 234, "the monstrous spectre"; 257, "Now to the anxious youth his speech he turn'd"; 274, "inspired page"; 275, "harden'd breast"; 285, "Wicked old man"; 295, 296, "nor dost thou now deserve To have 'here lies' engrav'd"; 299, 300, "Might dwell unmov'd amidst November's glooms, And laugh the dullest of his shades away"; 309, "thy savage rage"; 310, "a bloody army"; 315, "The Caledonian with the Albion join'd." Here in the 1779 version occur the following stanzas:

"Why runs thy stream dejected to the main,O Hudson, Hudson, dreary, dull and slow?Seek me no more along that mountain stream,For on his banks is heard the sound of woe.Sword, famine, thirst, and pining sickness there,Shall people half the realms this monster owns;He like the cruel foe, accursed he,Laughs at our pains, rejoices in our groans.Now wilt you tremble if you hear your fate,Out of the dread Apocalypse your doom,That death and hell must perish in the lakeOf fire, dispelling half hell's ancient gloom."

341, "black optics"; 348, "And leave the business to some deputy"; 373, "Now thus the drooping victim gave me charge"; 381, "A quivering light"; 383, "by whose far glimmering beams"; 384, "arrayed with ghosts"; 388, "furies snatch the engraving pen"; 390-392,

"Tir'd of his long continued victory:What glory can there be to vanquish thoseWho all beneath his stroke are sure to die?"

398, "Is borne secure, and rides aloft in state"; 399, "No, the stars"; 410, "Burst from the skies the fury of a blast"; 411, "Round the four eaves"; 414, "Sport with the sands"; 417, "Lights through the air like blazing stars"; 420, "As if afraid the fearful"; 424, "its dreary song"; 441, "Now from within"; 451, "Roar'd like a devil; while the woods around"; 458-460,

"Haste, seize the wretch who my request denies.Tophet receive him to thy lowest pit,Chain'd midst eternal oaths and blasphemies."

470, "And found the cœmetery in the gloom"; 471, "a hell-red waving light"; 472, "horrid circles"; 497, 498, "to the grave"; 499, 500, "A sable chariot drove with wild career, And following close a gloomy cavalcade"; 501, "Whose spectre forms"; 502, "by Pluto's consort wove"; 507, "lanthorn's beam"; 517, "Now deep was plac'd"; 520, "The sable steeds went swifter than the wind"; 523, 524, "Blooming the morn arose, and in the east Stalk'd gallantly in her sun-beam parade." The poem closes in the 1779 version with the following stanzas:

"Waking I found my weary night a dream;Dreams are perhaps forebodings of the soul;Learn'd sages tell why all these whims arose,And from what source such mystic visions roll.Do they portend approaching death, which tellsI soon must hence my darksome journey go?Sweet Cherub Hope! Dispel the clouded dreamSweet Cherub Hope, man's guardian god below.Stranger, who'er thou art, who this shall read,Say does thy nightly fancy rove like mine;Transport thee o'er wide lands and wider seasNow underneath the pole and now the burning line?Poet, who thus dost rove, say, shall thou fearNew Jordan's stream prefigured by the old?It will but waft thee where thy fathers areThe bards with long eternity enroll'd.It will but waft thee where thy Homer shroudsHis laurell'd head in some Elysian grove,And on whose skirts perhaps in future years,At awful distance you and I may rove.Enough – when God and nature give the word,I'll tempt the dusky shore and narrow sea:Content to die, just as it be decreed,At four score years, or now at twenty-three."

In the edition of 1795, Freneau used only stanzas 3-17, 119-124 of the poem, giving it the title "The Vision of the Night. A Fragment." In this there are some sixteen variations from the earlier text, nearly all minor verbal changes not always for the better. Several, however, are significant, for instance, line 12 is made to read, "I sing the horrors and the shades of night"; line 32 is changed to "with her ebon spear"; line 478 to "raised by churchmen's hands"; and 480 to "texts from Moses."

The poet used the 1786 edition as a sort of quarry for his later editions. He used thirteen stanzas for "The Sexton's Sermon," q.v.; stanzas 39-43 were reprinted in the 1809 edition in connection with stanzas 35-38 of "Santa Cruz" and entitled "Elegiac Lines"; stanza 79 became stanza one and 55 stanza two of the "Hessian Embarkation," and stanza 49 was inserted after stanza 90 of the 1809 version of "Santa Cruz."

158

As far as I can discover, this poem occurs only in the edition of 1786. Freneau seems deliberately to have abandoned it after this edition. A few stanzas from this poem are scattered through the poem entitled "The Sexton's Sermon," q. v. Stanza 43 was inserted after stanza 15 of the later versions of "Santa Cruz."

159

Text from the edition of 1786. The poem was first published in the February (1779) issue of the United States Magazine, as a part of an extended article, with the title, "Account of the Island of Santa Cruz: Containing an original Poem on the Beauties of that Island. In a letter to A. P. Esq." The poem is introduced as follows: "I believe the best thing I can do with the rest of this paper is to transcribe a few dull heavy lines which I composed near two years ago on the spot." The poem consisted of fifty-two stanzas, corresponding to the following above: 1-4, 6-10, 14-16, 18-23, 31-34, 39, 40, 48-51, 53, 54, 56, 58-63, 70, 79-82, 85, 88, 96, 98, 100, 101, 104, 106-108. Freneau revised it with a careful hand for his edition of 1786. Some of the lines changed most notably are as follows:

Each of the later editions passed under the revising pen of Freneau, but the variations consisted largely of verbal changes. As a sample of his revision, note the following:

Stanza 3, 1779, "Two weeks, with prosperous gales"; 1786, "Twice seven days prosperous gales"; 1809, "Twice ten days prosperous gales"; 26, 1779, "And tho' fierce Sol his beams directly shed"; 1786, "And though the noon-sun all his radiance shed"; 1795, "The noon sun his fierce radiance shed"; 30, 1779, "fruits that over-top the wood"; 1786, "fruits, the richest of the wood"; 1795, "fruits the noblest of the wood"; 38, 1779, "peaked hill"; 1786, "steepy hill"; 1795, "blue-brow'd hill"; 41, 1779, "lovely green"; 1786, "lively green"; 1795, "liveliest green." Freneau added three stanzas to the later versions. After stanza 16 above, be added the following:

"The native here, in golden plenty blest,Bids from the soil the verdant harvests spring;Feasts in the abundant dome, the joyous guest;Time short, – life easy, – pleasure on the wing."

Following this he added stanza 43 of "The Jamaica Funeral." Stanza 49 of "The House of Night" was interpolated between 90 and 91. Stanzas 35-38 were omitted from the 1786 version, and in connection with stanzas 39-43 of "The House of Night," became the "Elegiac Lines" of the later editions. The text of the 1795 version was almost unrevised for the 1809 edition.

160

This poem first appears in the 1795 edition, though the opening stanzas had formed a part of "The House of Night" in the 1786 edition. It must have been composed after this edition was published. I have inserted it here on account of its historical significance. Text is from the edition of 1809.

161

First published in the United States Magazine for September, 1779, under the title, "Psalm CXXXVII Imitated. By Philip Freneau, a young gentleman to whom in the course of this work we are greatly indebted." Signed, "Monmouth, Sept. 10, 1779." In the 1786 edition it bore the title, "Psalm CXXXVII Versified."

162

From the edition of 1809. The poem was written, according to the edition of 1786, in August, 1778. It was first published in conjunction with a work entitled "Travels of the Imagination," by Robert Bell of Philadelphia, and reissued twice by him during the same year. In this edition it bore the title, "American Independence an Everlasting Deliverance from British Tyranny. A Poem." Later were added the words. "By Philip F – u."

163

"Nor shall these upstarts of their loss complain,Since all the debt we owe to Britain's throneWas mere idea, and the rest our own." – Ed. 1786.