{"data":{"description":"Freneau wrote the following poem, considered to be one of the first to idealize the Indian. The Indian Burying Ground was first published in the American Museum, November, 1787.","title":"Philip Freneau: \"The Indian Burying Ground\"","post_type":"page","content":"Philip Freneau was known as \"the poet of the American Revolution\" because of the many ballads and satires he wrote during this period. His verse, prose and partisan essays appeared in numerous periodicals, and several volumes of his works were published over a half-century. All the while...in romanticizing the wonders of nature in his writings...he searched for an American idiom in verse.\n\nAfter visiting an Indian burial ground, Freneau wrote the following poem, considered to be one of the first to idealize the Indian. \"The Indian Burying Ground\" was first published in the American Museum, November, 1787.\n\u003cdiv class=\"hr\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Indian Burying Ground\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003eIn spite of all the learned have said,\nI still my old opinion keep;\nThe posture that we give the dead,\nPoints out the soul's eternal sleep.\n\nNot so the ancients of these lands--\nThe Indian, when from life released,\nAgain is seated with his friends,\nAnd shares again the joyous feast.\n\nHis imaged birds, and painted bowl,\nAnd venison, for a journey dressed,\nBespeak the nature of the soul,\nActivity, that knows no rest.\n\nHis bow, for action ready bent,\nAnd arrows, with a head of bone,\nCan only mean that life is spent,\nAnd not the finer essence gone.\n\nThou, stranger, that shalt come this way,\nNo fraud upon the dead commit,\nYet, marking the swelling turf, and say,\nThey do not lie, but here they sit.\n\nHere, still a lofty rock remains,\nOn which the curious eye may trace\n(Now wasted half by wearing rains)\nThe fancies of a ruder race.\n\nHere, still an aged elm aspires,\nBeneath whose far-projecting shade\n(And which the shepherd still admires)\nThe children of the forest played.\n\nThere oft a restless Indian queen,\n(Pale Marian, with her braided hair)\nAnd many a barbarous form is seen\nTo chide the man that lingers there.\n\nBy midnight moons, o'er moistening dews,\nIn habit for the chase arrayed,\nThe hunter still the deer pursues,\nThe hunter and the deer-- a shade.\n\nAnd long shall timorous fancy see\nThe painted chief, and pointed spear,\nAnd reason's self shall bow the knee\nTo shadows and delusions here. \t\n\n\u003c/pre\u003e\nBy Philip Freneau\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cins id=\"aswift_4_expand\"\u003e\u003cins id=\"aswift_4_anchor\"\u003e\u003ciframe id=\"aswift_4\" name=\"aswift_4\" width=\"728\" height=\"15\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003c/ins\u003e\u003c/ins\u003e\u003c/div\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}