On+Mr.+Paine's+Rights+of+Man

One major poet of the Revolutionary Era was Philip Freneau. His poem "On Mr. Paine's Rights of Man" (1795) served as support towards the American Revolution and what it meant to the American people. Critics against this type of idealism were supporters of the French monarchy who did not support the French Revolution. It could be argued that Thomas Paine's book set a solid foundation for the modern American society as he discussed free education, assistance for the poor, and pensions for the elderly. When the reader analyzes the poem, one can notice the iambic pentameter throughout the poem and the aa bb cc dd etc. structure. This structure provides a steady flow for the reader and creates a sound that allows the reader to feel the tone of the speaker. For most of the poem, the speaker criticizes the British with lines such as "On that base, childish bauble called a //crown//" (line 6). Finally towards the end of the poem the speaker gives praise to America "Columbia, hail! Immortal be thy reign" ( 35).

=**Puritan Influence?**=

As we can see in this poem, there is not a direct Puritan influence in that God is not directly mentioned. However, we can see an indirect strand of Puritan poetry. We can see that the speaker praises the potential of the common people to rise and create a nation that is stronger than the usual monarchy. Thus, like the Puritans, the people have the ability to work hard and accomplish their goals. Additionally, we begin to witness the start of a type of nationalism in poetry and trying to find an artistic identity that is different from Europe.