The Wild Honey Suckle

'The Wild Honey Suckle' by Philip Freneau

Philip Freneau, also known as "the poet of the American Revolution," wrote 'The Wild Honeysuckle' in Charleston, South Carolina in July of 1785. The poem was first published in the Freeman's Journal on August 2, 1786, and was republished in later editions of the journal with very few edits.

The poem differs drastically from Freneau's satirical poetry, which criticized political policies and social norms (like slavery) that Freneau disapproved of. In 'The Wild Honeysuckle,' however, Freneau's writing shifts towards Romanticism and lyricism. Freneau deeply appreciates the natural world around him, especially the wild honeysuckle, throughout the poem.

He uses the natural world around him to examine spiritual truths about life and beauty.

'The Wild Honey Suckle' text

'The Wild Honey Suckle' summary

The speaker of the poem is admiring the beauty of a wild honeysuckle bush that he has stumbled upon. The flowers are lovely, and nature has provided the plant with everything it needs to flourish. There is plenty of shade and sunlight, water is close by, and the plant is hidden away where humans won't destroy it.

But, the speaker notes, the honeysuckle is still going to die someday. Autumn and cold winter frosts don't care how beautiful the flower is; its beauty will be destroyed by time and the changing seasons. The speaker compares the honeysuckle to flowers in the biblical Garden of Eden, saying the one before him now is just as fair.

He then uses that allusion to shift and reflect on the fate of all of humanity. Everyone will eventually die, leaving nothing at the end of time. Just as life started out from nothing, in death life becomes nothing once more. The speaker ends the poem by saying that in the grand scheme of things, each person only lives for a brief moment in time.

Fig. 1 - The speaker is moved by the beauty of the wild honeysuckle.

'The Wild Honey Suckle' literary criticism and analysis

'The Wild Honeysuckle' relies on a variety of literary devices in order to create a physical image of a beautiful flower while also conveying the deeper philosophical meanings behind the flower's brief lifespan. The poem is chiefly about the temporary beauty and vibrancy of life, which is inevitably destroyed by death.

Personification and imagery

The beginning of the poem is full of personification and imagery. The lines "Untouched thy honey'd blossoms blow, / Unseen thy little branches greet" paint a mental image of small branches filled with little blossoms of sweet-smelling flowers (3-4). Right from the first few lines, readers are drawn into the poem and feel as though they are gazing upon the bush of flowers along with the speaker.

The personification also starts in these lines when the speaker reflects that the lovely plant seems to "greet" its visitors, despite not getting very many in its secluded area. The honeysuckle is positioned as a cheery, vibrant picture of life and beauty.

The personification shifts in the second stanza to "Nature" who herself seemed to build the perfect environment for the flowers to grow in:

Nature gave the plant everything it needed to thrive, including sun, shade, and water. She also dressed the honeysuckle up in white petals, so the plant itself represents a state of purity. It is exactly where it is supposed to be, doing exactly what it is supposed to do. But being handpicked by nature and in a state of grace doesn't save the honeysuckle from death.

The personification in the next stanza brings death and decay. Lines 17-18 read,

The personification of frost and Autumn destroy the peaceful imagery and setting that Nature has worked to build in one fell swoop. It took 12 lines to build up the imagery of the flower and only two lines to destroy it.

Fig. 2 - Frost leaves no trace of the once-vibrant honeysuckle.

Allusion

The speaker uses an allusion to the Garden of Eden to compare the wild honeysuckle's beauty to that of the flowers in God's paradise. He says,

This allusion also hints at why death is so inevitable and universal. In the Bible, humans were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for ignoring God's instructions and eating the forbidden fruit, cursing all life with death and disease. Freneau, whom biographers have labelled a deist, seems to be subtly critiquing Christianity's God for destroying such natural beauty in the name of punishing humans for their misdeeds.

Although the flowers are just like the ones in paradise and morally pure (as depicted in their white array), they are reduced to nothing in the frost of winter.

Symbolism and hyperbole

Although the speaker starts the poem by talking specifically about the honeysuckle's beauty and inevitable death, after the allusion to the Garden of Eden, the flowers become a symbol for all of creation. The honeysuckle, like all living things, returns to nothing in death. The speaker reflects:

Life isn't actually condensed into 60 minutes, but hyperbole serves to show how fast time flies. The last couplet uses hyperbole and symbolism to capture the transient nature of time for all living things.

Fig. 3 - The speaker says the moment between birth and death only lasts an hour.

Alliteration

Alliteration makes the poem more melodious, adding to the inherent beauty of nature. The speaker starts off with alliteration, addressing the honeysuckle as "fair flower" (1), His use of alliteration builds throughout the poem, making the natural elements sound more beautiful and in harmony with one another.

For example in line three, "blossoms blow," and in line 10 Nature "sent soft waters." The peaceful alliterations conclude in line 12 with "days declining." Similarly, line 12 signifies a shift from admiring the beauty of the honeysuckle to philosophizing over its death.

Consonance

Consonance, on the other hand, is a prominent literary device when the speaker is discussing the honeysuckle's ultimate demise. The repetition of the "M" sound in line 13: "Smit with those charms, that must decay," shifts the focal point from the admiration of nature to the devastation of nature. The "M" sound is used to heighten the emotional significance of the poem, taking on the mournful tone of the speaker. The repetition of the "T" sound in line 17: "Unpitying frosts and Autumn’s power" creates a hard rhythm that conveys a sense of power and distance. While the speaker is mournful, death's power is indifferent to the loss of beauty.

'The Wild Honey Suckle' themes and meaning

Time is transient & death is inevitable

The prevailing theme of the poem is that time is transient and living things only exist for a short period before dying. The honeysuckle will perish despite all of its advantages: it was cultivated by "Nature's self," (7) but it still cannot survive the "unpitying frosts and Autumn's power" (17).

It doesn't matter how vibrant, beautiful, or lucky living things are. In time, everything will succumb to death. The final couplet of the poem sums the transient nature of time up best:

But death, the speaker argues, isn't really a loss; it's more of a return. He says,

Death and decay are inevitable aspects of life, but it's not necessarily something to fear. He says that living things come "From morning suns and evening dews" (19) and implies that we return to the same state after death. Death happens to everything, but it simply reverts living things back to the state they came from.

The beauty of nature

In the Romantic tradition, the speaker is attuned to the beauty of nature. Most importantly, the speaker appreciates the beauty of the honeysuckle for its own sake, not because of what it can give to human beings. He says,

He finds joy simply in observing the honeysuckle and how nature seemed to position it perfectly so it would have the best chance at life.

Furthermore, the speaker is delighted that the honeysuckle is away from humans, where "No roving foot shall crush thee here, / No busy hand provoke a tear" (5-6). As opposed to other humans who enjoy nature for what it can provide to them, the speaker here just appreciates it for its own beauty. Throughout the poem, there is no mention of machinery or human influence. Even the antagonist is natural: frost, autumn, and time.