Satire
Early in his career, Freneau built a reputation upon a recurring motif of satire in his poetry directed toward the British. “General Gage’s Soliloquy” and “General Gage’s Confession” are two poems that point to just how personal his sharp biting humor could get, but it is worth noting that as a symbolic tool, Freneau primarily used satirical humor as just one part of literary arsenal that used poetry to extol the virtues of democracy in part by ripping to shreds the contemporary alternatives of absolute and parliamentarian monarchies.
The Sea
In addition to being a writer, Freneau also enjoyed an adventurous career as a sailor. “The British Prison Ship” represents the key point in his transition from light satire to a much darker strain as it was influenced by his own experience as a prisoner aboard one of the titular vessels. When Freneau turns to the sea for inspiration the result is yet another revelation about that siren call to a life aboard ship as an itch for adventure which can never be scratched to satisfaction because it is a life offering a new and different kind of excitement and adventure. The darker aspect of answering this siren’s call on display in his poem about the prison ship is placed in juxtaposition to the quite different stories told in poems with titles like "The Hurricane," "The Memorable Victory of Paul Jones," “The Hurricane” and "The Battle of Lake Erie."
The American Democracy
The motif which is most dominant in Freneau’s poetry and which was key in earning him his reputation is the celebration of America as more than a new nation, but an inspiration. His verse celebrating the arrival of immigrant as both proof of what America could mean and contributor to realizing those ideals would quite clearly be subject to going in and out of fashion depending on the barometer of the times, but his deep conviction that America was a beacon sending out a signal of something new and exciting is undeniable. Fervently opposed to monarchies and oppression of all kinds, Freneau’s poetry transcend conventional modes of patriotism to step outside the limitations of nationalism and present democratic ideals as fundamental to America. Over the course of his work, America actually becomes a symbol for democracy as much as it is presented as an actual location. The two are linked inextricably to create the notion that America stripped of its democracy would no longer really be America at all.
Little Natural Wonders
In stark contrast to the sharp edges of his satirical poetry are the soft, rounded images that pop up in his lyrical poetry. Again, much can be gleaned just from Freneau’s choice of titles: “On Observing a Large, Red-Streak Apple,” “The Wild Honey Suckle” and “On a Honey Bee” reveal that in addition to being able to look at the larger picture of social issues like freedom and equality, Freneau could discover a universe of meaning in the small examples of the natural world. In most of his lyric poetry, Freneau is able to turn everything from apples to bees into a symbol worthy of meditations upon man’s mortality and his quest for immortality through legacy.
Slavery
As with the relationship between America and democracy, Freneau works in the opposite of expectations when he writes about oppression. While many writers utilize symbolism to comment upon slavery, in Freneau’s hands slavery becomes the symbol for all different manners of oppressive regimes. When his verse is focusing specifically on the conventional notions of slavery such as the treatment of the indigenous creoles of the West Indies in “To Sir Toby” he is writing about the same thing as the treatment of prisoners aboard that British ship. The same hold true those emigrating from their various European homelands to escape despotic kings and emperors and take advantage of the freedom offered by American democracy. Slavery becomes a symbol for not just the economic institution with which most Americans relate it, but any type of tyranny over the freedom of the individual anywhere.
