A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Freneau, Philip

by John William Cousin

Freneau, Philip (1752-1832).—Poet, b. in New York, produced two vols. of verse (1786-8), the most considerable contribution to poetry made up to that date in America. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was taken prisoner, and confined in a British prison-ship, the arrangements of which he bitterly satirised in The British Prison Ship (1781). He also wrote vigorous prose, of which Advice to Authors is an example. Amid much commonplace and doggerel, F. produced a small amount of genuine poetry in his short pieces, such as The Indian Burying Ground, and The Wild Honeysuckle.

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