Alyssa Gustin

Dr. Teresa Coronado

English 451

29 October 2015

The Sublime and the Sea: The “People of the River of Mist” and Their Spirit Canoe

The Gitxsan tribe is a Native North American tribe located in the northwest region of British Colombia, and they have roughly 13,000 members of the Gitxsan nation in modern times. The language of the Gitxsan tribe is Gitxsanimaax and their tribe name translates to “People of the River of Mist” (gitxsan.com) in English. With their name being related directly to water and because of the geography that surrounds them, which is several rivers, their spiritual beliefs and way of life also does connect directly to water as well. The Gitxsan tribe had shaman, and the emphasis on practicing shamanism is especially evident when discussing their spirituality. One item used by shaman of the Gitxsan tribe is something that is called a spirit canoe.

The spirit canoe, or the “watsx” (“Spirit canoe in the form of a land otter”) as it is called in the Gitxsan nation’s native language, is a small object that can fit into a person’s hands which is shaped like a canoe. The one shown below has an otter’s face on the front of it, and the estimated years it was created are somewhere between 1870-1900. According to Shirley Muldon, a representative of the Gitxsan nation, the spirit canoe was something used by the shaman of the tribe as a healing aid. The canoe could supposedly “travel over land, over water, and the vision would come to [the shaman] that they…would find the cure in the canoe” (Muldon). Also, the spirit canoe could “transform the shaman in and out of reality” (Muldon), meaning that it supposedly had the power to take the shaman into the spirit world as a way to help him aid whoever needed healing. When connecting the spirit canoe to the study of maritime literature, there is more to it than just the fact that the canoe could travel over water. In many other pieces of North American maritime literature, the sea is seen as some sublime sort of being. Since the spirit canoe is so closely related to the sea since it can travel over sea and because of the fact that it also represents spirituality, both of which are representations of the sublime, the spirit canoe can then directly relate to other pieces of maritime literature and is therefore important within the maritime literature canon.

The sublime became incorporated into literature during the time of English romanticism, although it dates all the way back to the ancient philosopher Longinus. Longinus states in his piece entitled On the Sublime that writing is meant to be “truly great, the best and most passionate thoughts, nature’s high and rare inspirations, expressed in the best chosen words” (Longinus). Connecting writing to nature is what makes great writing that is full of heartfelt emotion, and so nature must then be something that is incredible and larger-than-life. This is what is at the heart of what the sublime means, and so nature itself is sublime. More specifically, at least in terms of maritime literature, the sea is sublime since many stories about the sea romanticize it and turn it into something grand. The sublime then became used in English romantic literature, which then transformed in American romantic maritime literature, such as many novels written by James Fenimore Cooper like The Water-Witch; or, The Skimmer of the Seas. These romanticized tales about the sea produce a great vision of the sea is, but they also indicate the sort of danger that is often associated with the sea. The sublime is then not only something majestic or grand, but also something that can be dangerous and, at times, unknown.

            Although the literary idea of the sublime as a theory began during the English Romanticism period with writers such as Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, it later translated into American romanticism. According to Zackary Vernon in his article “'Being Myriad, One': Melville and the Ecological Sublime in Faulkner's Go Down, Moses,” many of Herman Melville’s writings embraced the idea of the sublime. Since a majority of Melville’s works are maritime related, the sublime and its relationship to nature becomes much clearer when examining the sea under that scope of knowledge. There are many examples within Melville’s works as well as the works of other maritime writers of when the sea is majestic and exotic, and there are times when the sea is also treacherous and mysterious. The mystery aspect of the sea and, therefore, the sublime connect back to the idea of the spirit canoe. Because the spirit canoe is seen as something that connects to the sea, it is sublime in nature. However, the spirit canoe’s connection to the sea is not the only aspect about it that connects it back to the literary theory of the sublime.

            The spirit canoe’s connection to a spiritual world is something that also makes it sublime. The spirit world can be interpreted as some sort of afterlife within many other religious practices. Having an afterlife provides comfort to many people, but the fact is that people do not absolutely know exactly what awaits them after death. Having that mystery element of mystery surrounding the spirit world connects back to the idea of the unknown within the sublime. According to Vernon, there is something referred to as the negative sublime, which is when “individuals confront something greater than themselves, often withing the natural world. As a result, they are reduced to feelings of insignificance” (Vernon 66). Something as huge as the sea can definitely create feelings of insignificance for people, and so in order to overcome that sort of feeling there is also the idea of the positive sublime, which is when “individuals confront the magnitude of the sublime, and instead of feeling insignificant, they transcend current conceptions of self and discern the unity of the environment of which the individual is a part” (66).  As opposed to the negative sublime, where the feeling of insignificance can engulf someone, the positive sublime is when the sublime object is faced head on and instead of feelings of insignificance, there are feelings of otherworldliness. The sublime is then not only closely related to nature; it also encompasses spirituality. Spirituality and religion is something that helps to gain some kind of understanding of the mysterious afterlife or spirit world, and although there is nothing concrete that suggests the existence of the afterlife, spirituality is something that aids people in facing the idea of death. Spirituality and death are both abstract, mysterious things, and since the sea is as well, that makes spirituality something that can incorporate the ideas of the sublime. The spirit canoe is one way of expressing spirituality, and thus becomes related to the sublime in that way as well.

            Due to its relationship to the shaman, it is important to note that the spirit canoe’s significance depends on that of the shaman within the Gitxsan culture. The shaman played an imperative role in the Gitxsan culture as their spiritual leader, and since the spirit canoe was an aid in healing people the spirit canoe’s role for the shaman was also a major key in the practices of the shaman. It was stated earlier that the shaman was able to go into the spirit world through the use of the spirit canoe. With the spirit canoe’s connection to the sublime, the shaman’s role them becomes even more vital as he is able to confront the feelings of insignificance that can come with facing the sublime and put those feelings to rest in order to gain higher spiritual knowledge. The sublime then becomes something that is not only important within maritime literature studies; it also has value within the Gitxsan tribe’s spirituality. Each of the ways that the literary version of the sublime is seen, which is as something that is enormous, mystifying, and awe-inspiring, are applied to nature, and correspondingly can be applied to spirituality in general. When attached specifically to the spirituality of the Gitxsan tribe, the sublime goes from being only related to nature, but also to religion and spirituality, all of which the spirit canoe incorporates. So, by examining how important the shaman is for the Gitxsan tribe, and through observing the importance of the sublime in terms of spirituality and nature when relating back to the Gitxsan tribe’s spirit canoe, the spirit canoe once again proves that it encompasses the ideals of the sublime set within the maritime literary canon.

            The importance of the sea is unquestionable in today’s world. It opens the world up to travelling and exploration, and it provides life. As much as there is known about the ocean, there seems to be almost ten times the amount of the unknown. The sublime encompasses both the greatness and the unfathomable parts of the sea. Anything that is then written about the sea should also contemplate the sublime and how it affects the sea. However, when some pieces of maritime literature only cover the impressiveness of the sea, there must be other works added into the maritime literature canon that includes both aspects of what the sea is and, therefore, what the sublime is as well. The spirit canoe’s connection to the sea is obvious, since it is a small model of a boat. When looking at its direct connection to the sublime, though, its linking back to the sea makes it much more profound. Connecting the spirit canoe to the sea through the use of the sublime, rather than just connecting the spirit canoe to the sublime through the sea, adds another layer of insight that can be given to the meaning behind the spirit canoe in its relation to maritime literature, as well as to the Gitxsan culture and spirituality as a whole. In other words, instead of the sea being the most important thing that connects the Gitxsan spirit canoe to maritime literature, it is the spirit canoe’s connection to the ideas of the sublime that shape the spirit canoe as something that proves to be something significant enough to be included within the canon of North American Maritime literature.

Works Cited

Longinus. “On the Sublime.” Trans. H.L. Havell. gutenberg.org. Web. 10 March 2016

Vernon, Zackary. “'Being Myriad, One': Melville and the Ecological Sublime in Faulkner's Go      Down, Moses.” Project Muse 46.1 (2014): 63-82. Print.

gitxsan.com. Gitxsan Nation. Web. 27 October 2015.

Muldon, Shirley. “Gitxsan Spirit Canoe Curing Aid.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 13     March 2012. Web. 27 October 2015.

“Spirit canoe in the form of a land otter.” National Museum of the American Indian: Item  Detail. Web. 25 October 2015.

http://nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/item.aspx?irn=37379&catids=0&objtypeid=Ceremonial/Ritual%20items:%20Shamanic%20objects|Spirit%20canoe&src=1-4

A Sketch of a Beach at Mackinac Island (East End), Chris Kaplan, Portrait of the Past: Recounting Native Relations

 

Portrait of the Past: Recounting Native Relations

When Native Americans and pioneers first encountered one another, an influx of new cultural relations ignited for the travelers and the natives to America. Consequently, with the growth of relations between the new peoples an overwhelming change happened within the daily lives of many Americans. Americans now had new land to explore and new people to observe. A vast proportion of literature fictionalizes tales of traveling to new lands with accounts that are focused on the settling, the exploring, and the observing of these new lands and peoples. However, other accounts of these explorations have been documented in non-fictionalized forms. One of these accounts includes an artistic rendition of Native Americans settled upon a beach on Mackinac Island, Michigan in 1843. (Wood 367.) This sketch, titled “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” should be included into the Maritime Literature canon as it is a viable reinforcement of American fascination with exploration and observation, a theme present in Maritime Literature, represented by the exploration and observation of Native American peoples through sketching. It also retains value because many accounts of the Native Americans focus on a negatively biased view due to the violence of the native people in response to the expansion of America over native peoples land. Thus these accounts do not represent an accurate portrayal of the Americans initial response to the natives culture, of which was to observe them in an unbiased light, whereas this piece, by Wood, focuses on the natives culture in a peaceful manner through observation, similar to the relations before violence had broken out over land. Taking note of the natives lodging methods and method of travel, tippis and canoes. Furthermore, it should be included in the canon of Maritime Literature as it can help determine not only how the pioneers viewed the Native Americans culture but how they viewed the pioneers culture, prior to land disputation. By observing this sketch we can see how natives and pioneers initially responded to one another and get a sense of the importance of exploration and observation of new lands and peoples, the theme of which has maintained itself consistently within the canon of Maritime Literature.

“A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” is a sketch made popular by Edwin O. Wood, who published the sketch in 1918. His family contains traces back to the American Revolutionary war and have an heritage of moving from domesticated areas of the Americas to parts of the country that are less than developed. Wood’s parents would later settle in the town of Goodrich, Michigan as Edwin Orin Wood would be born in the same town in 1861. It can be argued that Wood’s interest and subsequent publication of the sketch can be due to his family's past of exploration into the frontier and observation of previously uncontacted peoples. This only asserts  “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” importance in inclusion to the canon of Maritime Literature as it furthers the claim that the sketch represents early interest in the observation and exploration of new people and places. This theme ever present in Maritime Literature. Many accounts of the Native American interactions with pioneers tread on with a negatively biased view of natives, predominantly because of the violent responses of the native people to the expansion of America over native peoples tribal land. In consequence many accounts of American/native relations do not accurately represent America's initial response to natives, which emphasized by H. Massey description and Wood’s visual representation, was to observe in order to better understand the natives culture. Supporting the notion that  “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” should be included in the canon of Maritime Literature is that it can help determine not only how the pioneers viewed the natives culture but how natives viewed the pioneers culture. In H. Massey's entry we can observe that both the pioneers and natives were interested in communication. Throughout the entry it is the natives culture that is observed and detailed more so as the account is through the reference of a pioneer of natives and not a native's account of a pioneer. Had it been a reverse account, native of pioneer, it can be safely assumed that the account would have focused more so on pioneer culture. The reversal of account is trivial, however, as the important notion to receive from this is that the idea of exploration and observation of new people, a common idea in Maritime Literature, being important is presented. This idea presented in H. Massey’s work is visually shown in Wood’s sketch. This can be displayed through the sketch simply existing. By it existing shows that observing and documenting new peoples and their cultures is important. This importance, shown throughout Maritime Literature, is a logical reason to include “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” in the canon of Maritime Literature.

Recounts of native interactions with American pioneers during the 1800’s had a tendency to be detailed accounts of conflict over native versus American pioneer territorial rights. These interactions tend to be documented with a negative connotation by American writers, however H. Massey gathers information on a prolonged interaction between natives and one Governor Lewis Cass and the American folk of Detroit, Michigan. Governor Lewis Cass would serve the state of Michigan from 1813 until 1831. (Department of State) This account breaks this negative tendency, similarly to the sketch, and emphasizes with words what “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” represents. He details this initial contact of Gov. Lewis Cass and the natives through the eyes of one “Mr. Owen” who “brings fresh to recollection...various incidents connected with a journey made by himself” (Massey par. 1) Mr. Owen begins his version of events with his travels from Central New York to Detroit. This journey forces Mr. Owen to travel initially by stage, secondly by canal, and finally, on a Steamboat dubbed The Niagara. During Mr. Owen's journey he comes to temporarily reside near the residence of Governor Lewis Cass of Detroit. Governor Lewis Cass spent the late autumn of 1828 traveling the Great Lakes and Mr. Owen notes that the purpose of the Governor's trip was that  “The desire of the Governor was to treat with them for their possessions in exchange for lands further west, and for valuable considerations” (Massey par. 6) This “negotiation” of shorts would be the basis for many future conflicts between Americans and natives. However, like the sketch, the account focuses on a peaceful manner in which Americans observe natives and new lands.  

It was not until several weeks after the Governor's trip that a small platoon of canoe ships would arrive on Detroit's shores. These canoes contained members of a native tribe who would stay as the Governor's guests for the next two to three weeks. “The visit lasted two or three weeks,” (Massey par.8) It is noted by Mr. Owen that the people of the town as well as the Governor treated the natives with care and provided for them. The police were even informed to take great care with these people. “during which time they were the guests of the Governor, and were all provided for. The military and police force of the city were made particularly subservient to their protection and care” (Massey par. 8) Although under American hospitality and subsequent social influence the Indian culture the natives brought with them seemed not to dissipate with the prolonged time they spent within American civilization.  In contrast with what the people of Detroit assumed would happen while observing the natives, they showed no change in social behavior and demonstrated Indian culture regularly. The past time of war dancing seemed to remain a particular favorite, so much so that every day they would gather on the land of the Governor and practice these dances. “Hundreds of them frequently assembled on the green in front of the Governor’s residence, where they engaged for an hour or more at evening in the violent contortions called dances, peculiar to the race, of all of them sufficiently exciting, but the war dance most of all ” (Massey par. 9)  However after their short time with the people of Detroit the natives would return to their land the same way the arrived. They would travel several hundred miles back to their village by canoe following the solitary lakes. “They finally embarked on the same manner in which they came, for a passage through the solitary lakes, several hundred miles to their homes.” (Massey par. 10)  

H. Massey’s recordings of Mr. Owen’s journey and subsequent experience with  Governor Lewis Cass encounter with the natives forms important documentation of initial American/native relations prior to land disputes. This documentation emphasizes the importance Americans placed on observing native peoples and exploring their lands. Therefore it demonstrates the importance of the inclusion of “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)” in Maritime Literature as the sketch, coincidentally or not, visually embodies the text of H. Massey, whose work is included among Maritime Literature as well as other genres as a valuable form of documentation for early American/native relations. By observing “A Sketch of the Beach at Mackinac Island (East End)”  we can see and discern how pioneers viewed the natives through observation to better understand them and their culture. We can also distinguish how pioneers responded to the natives and understand the sense of the importance of travel and observation of new regions and peoples, the topic of which has bred itself heavily within the canon of Maritime Literature.

 

 

Bibliography

 

"Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Lewis Cass." Department of History. United States   

         Department of State: Office of the Historian. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

 

Edwin O. Wood. 1918. Historic Mackinac, Volume 1 (of 2), facing-page 367. The Macmillan

         Company: New York.

 

Massey, H. "Traveling on the Great Lakes When Detroit Was Young." Pioneer Collections Report      of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan. Vol. VII. Washington D.C.: Thorp & Godfrey, State Printers and Binders, 1865. 131-133. Print. 
 

Link to Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1843_drawing_of_Mission_Point_beach_at_Mackinac_Island,_Michigan.jpg

 

 

 

   

 



Jennifer Puma

Professor Teresa Coronado

ENGL 451

28 October 2015

Introduction

The letter discussed in this work is addressed to a Wisconsin representative of congress by the name of Henry C. Schadeberg. Schadeberg was born in Manitowoc County, WI and lived from 1913 to 1985. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Carrol College in 1938. Schadeberg served in the United States Navy as a chaplain from 1943 until 1946 and then in the Korean conflict from 1952 to 1953. He then served as a captain in the U.S. Naval reserve until he retired in 1969. Schadeberg was a republican candidate elected into the eighty seventh and eighty eighth congresses from 1961 to 1965 and then to the ninetieth and ninety-first congresses from 1967 to 1971. Henry C. Schadeberg died a resident of Rockridge Baths, VA on December 11, 1985 at the age of 72. The letter (which will be focused on in this piece) is written by Donald L. Bright. There was nothing to be found specifically on Donald L. Blight since there are seven people from Wisconsin listed under this name, making it difficult to narrow down the information. The only thing to be understood about Bright (through the reading of his letter) is that he lived in Waterford near the Fox River. 

Water within American Capitalism

It is common knowledge that approximately 60-70% of the human body (on average) is made up of water. Water is essential to the survival of all living things; humans included. While human need for water is transcultural, perception of water is very much divided culturally. Each culture has its own values, perceptions and traditions which effect greatly how water is viewed and manipulated within each given society. It becomes important then to understand that there are perceptions of water which are very much culturally driven within America. America is a capitalistic society and therefore water and its use is viewed under these pretenses and ideals. Through the examination of this letter addressed to Congressman Schadeberg, it will become evident that, for Americans, water is very much a part of the capitalistic ideologies of United States. Although this letter seems to be serving a personal agenda, it offers a window into the agenda of others as well. Through the examination of this letter one is offered a close view of the American Capitalistic perspective on the use and manipulation of waterways and how they are both valued and maneuvered to serve human beings. No matter whose agenda is being served, in relation to this waterway, money is the object that drives and supplies it to people.

In order to fully understand the ideals which are projected onto the American waterways, one must first understand capitalism. In America’s attempt to separate itself from England, it makes an effort to function in a non-English manner. This means no longer functioning under a hierarchal style of governing. It also means that power is no longer achieved through genetics. In fact, it means that power can actually be achieved; the common person can then, under this new system, work their way from the bottom to the top. The object that drives such a system is capitalism. Under this system, it is understood that people can work hard and start a business which can earn them capital. Capital equals money and money equals power; thus births the American dream. The trouble with this system, similar to the old, is that disparity exists. Jane Ford states, “…to articulate the inequalities of an exploitative capitalistic system” (551). In order for some to gain the power of capital, the others are exploited. While the old system held power and disparity through birth right, the new/American system holds power and disparity through the obtaining of money. Money then becomes the driving point towards happiness and success. Therefore, everything within this system is viewed as a way to profit; water is no exception to this rule. Water is accessed by people who have money and the water is also valued as a means for fiscal advancement as well.   

Donald L. Blight understands these capitalistic American values when writing his letter to Congressman Schadeberg. This is evident right from the beginning when Bright starts his letter out by saying, “As one of your former campaign workers…” (1). Bright is attempting to persuade Schadeberg into taking action in Blight’s favor. He starts out by appealing to Schadeberg’s desire for capitalistic success. Schadeberg’s wealth is obtained through his position as the representative for Wisconsin in the United States Congress. Schadeberg will not be able to continue with the same type of financial success if he is not voted into office during the next term. Bright understands this capitalistic game and here he is using it to his advantage. Blight is reminding Schadeberg that he may be responsible for more future votes than just his own. Bright was involved in campaigning for Schadeberg and by beginning his letter by reminding him of this, he gains a monetary power of persuasion over the congressman. Blight understands that money talks in a capitalistic society and he is making an attempt to use this to his advantage. It is unsure whether or not Bright’s fiscal persuasion was effective especially since the problem with the Fox River was monetarily driven as well.

In this capitalistic society, money can decide who has access to water and who does not and this ideal becomes evident within this letter as well. The reader learns through further evaluation of Blight’s letter that a man named Henry Davis manages a spillway just downstream from where Blight lives. Blight explains his dilemma in relation to this by stating, “Our problem along the Fox River is ‘no water.’ It seems that Henry Davis who controls the spillway at the Rochester Dam, downstream, feels he should cater to a couple of farmers in the Wind Lake area” (1). The reader learns here, not only that Blight is upset that there is not enough water for him and his neighbors to enjoy upstream, but also that the problem is occurring due to overuse. In this capitalistically driven society, it is likely that Henry Davis’ decision to allow the farmers to use this resource is not due to the way he, “feels” but due to monetary compensation. It is safe to assume that within this American model Henry Davis is only allowing the farmers to overuse this resource because they are paying him. There are two dynamics here which feed into the capitalistic principle. One is that Henry Davis is earning capital through the exploitation of the water and the second is that the farmer is gaining capital through the use of the water. The farmer uses the much needed water in order to grow his/her crops and in turn sells the crops to people for a fiscal return.

Again Blight understands that money equals power so he uses this as a reasoning tool towards his argument. Blight goes on to say, “Although we are paying higher taxes because we have river frontage, we can’t enjoy it” (1). This argument strengthens the idea that money is the way to power. Bright clearly feels entitled to this resource because he feels that he pays for it. He could make an argument that this water is a natural resource and everyone has an equal right to enjoy it, but that is not the one argument he chooses. Blight makes an argument that falls within American capitalistic ideology by suggesting that he has more of a right to this natural resource than the others do since he uses his hard earned money to pay for it. However, the money that Blight pays through property taxes will be collected no matter what the outcome of this dilemma is. In this respect, Blight loses some of his power under this system since he does not have control over the money. It is likely that the farmers will win in this scenario, since their profit and the profit of Henry Davis is contingent upon the continuation of their overuse of the resource.

It becomes obvious through this letter that there is clearly an American approach to understanding and using water. Right from the introduction of the letter one understands that, in the U.S., if one obtains fiscal control, power is obtained as well. The examination of this letter allows for the understanding that capitalistic ideologies are pertinent in America even at a micro level and that since America’s ideologies are internalized by its people, they are projected even onto natural resources such as water. Henry Davis and the farmers view the water as a way to advance their profits. Water is a natural resource; however, in the U.S. resources are viewed as a means to gain capital. Therefore, if people have money, they have access to water. In many cases, such as this one, they have too much access to the water. In relation to this, Blight states, “With the river so low no one is able to take their boats out or fish. It is not a pretty sight to see the gravel and muddy area which the water would normally cover” (1). Bright understands that the overuse of this water is diminishing the resource, but he also understands clearly the capitalistic society under which he resides. While money can be viewed as a means to success, it can also be viewed as a means towards destruction. In this case, the farmers seem to be getting their way in accessing the water, but in the long term scope of things, no one is winning because the resource could possibly be diminished. If water becomes the object for gaining profit within a capitalistic society, there isn’t much that has the power to stop its destruction. Through examining this letter, one is able to understand how the internalization of a cultural viewpoints can still become damaging to natural recourses such as water. The ways in which cultures view water can mean the difference between its survival or meeting its demise.      

Works Cited

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-Present. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000108

Blight, Donald L. “Letter to Congressman Henry C. Schadeberg.” (1969): 1-2. University Wisconsin Parkside Archive: Box 56 Folder 10. Print.

Ford, Jane. "Socialism, Capitalism And The Fiction Of Lucas Malet: 'The Spirit Of The Hive'." English Literature In Transition 1880-1920 58.4 (2015): 551-571. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

"On A Honey Bee": Daniel Hansen, "Freneau About The Water"

Daniel Hansen

Dr. Coronado

English 451

October 29^th, 2015

 Freneau About The Water

The American Revolution is covered, and etched into our brains, from the time that we are very young. Washington is our nation’s father and savior, and without him, America might not be as it is today. Most who lived during the Revolution had to find entertainment in hugely different ways from how we find it today. They didn’t have televisions or cell phones, and with no electricity, their reading was saved for the daytime. While we’re on the subject of reading, most people got their fix through the newspapers. A man by the name of Philip Freneau, who was sometimes called the “Poet of the American Revolution,” was very influential in keeping morale up while America was in the midst of gaining their independence from Britain. However, Freneau was a sea captain, and having traveled many different places on the sea, he had written many different poems involving the water. Most of these poems are glanced over, because of his poetry on the Revolution. No poem of Freneau’s is more powerful than “On A Honey Bee,” because it shows the depth at which Freneau could write. His literature may be read in American patriotic books, but this poem on a lake should be more revered, for it encapsulates the water as an entity of feeble strength, rather than a body of great power.

Freneau was born on January 2, 1752 in New York City. He studied at Princeton with an emphasis on religion, but soon found a different calling. During his time at Princeton, his roommate, James Madison, the eventual fourth President of the United States, found his wit to be sharp and steered him towards the direction of writing. Freneau had always fancied himself a good writer, but it wasn’t until Madison, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and William Bradford, Jr., and he revived the Plain Dealing Club as the American Whig Society that Freneau found a true talent for writing political satire. He worked with Brackenridge on numerous projects while in school together, including “The Rising Glory of America,” a great poem that signaled the revolution for America and its people. After his time at Princeton, Freneau spent much of his time writing more patriotic poetry. He found the American politics to be overbearing, though, and set sail to the West Indies in 1776. Thus began his poetry of the sea. When he returned to America in 1778, he set out again on the sea with a militia, captaining a ship. He was captured by the British for six weeks, and it is after this point that Freneau turns his poetry into more Romantic ideas and representations.  After his work on the sea, Freneau decided to settle down. However, that was short lived. Madison and Jefferson wanted Freneau to open his own newspaper in Philadelphia to combat the politically opposite-sided paper of John Fenno. Freneau started the National Gazette, and it was a major success. Jefferson had high praise for the Gazette, and felt it brought the Constitution back from going towards “monarchy.” After his political endeavors settled, Freneau retired once again to his farm, occasionally returning to the sea. During this time, he gave credit to the 1780’s as his inspiration for his writing. All that he had been through had given him many great ideas for his writing, such as “The Indian Burial Ground” and “The Wild Honey Sickle.” Many believe these poems to be the foundation for American Romanticism. Freneau died on December 18, 1832, at 80 years old. He froze to death trying to get back home, and is buried in the Philip Morin Freneau Cemetery on Poet's Drive in Matawan, New Jersey.

There’s no concrete date for when Freneau wrote “On A Honey Bee,” but it is one of the lesser known poems of his. The poem illustrates the life of a bee, and how it has wandered off the path to find his wine glass. From that, there isn’t a direct connection to a lake, but what makes the poem an important part of maritime literature is its imagery. Freneau uses images of the water to illustrate that the bee’s lost its way. In the first stanza, Freneau begins with these images. He writes:

Thou, born to sip the lake or spring,

Or quaff the waters of the stream,

Why hither come on vagrant wings?

Does Bacchus tempting seem

Did he, for you, the glass prepare?

                                          Will I admit you to a share? (Freneau Lines 1-6)

Freneau starts the poem with the water. The bee is meant to drink water, not wine. Of course, this is meant to invoke a sense of the bee feeling lost. This first stanza does not do much in terms of maritime literature, and yet, the mention of water is meant to show how easily a bee can be thrown off course. Now, the bee is a metaphor for human beings, and how we all are meant to stay towards something, and end up losing our way. The lake being the source of safety and energy for the bee enables the water to become a place of safety, rather than a dangerous place.

Later in the poem, Freneau gives us another example of the water being feeble, when comparing it to the wine.

Yet take not oh! too deep a drink,

And in the ocean die;

Here bigger bees than you might sink,

Even bees full six feet high.

Like Pharaoh, then, you would be said.

                                              To perish in a sea of red. (Freneau Lines 25-30)

Comparing the wine in his glass as an ocean, he’s turning nature into something that is small in strength. When thinking of this stanza in terms of humans, I likened it to people who get greedy and take more than they need. Soon, they will sink, because they’ve taken too much of something that they don’t need. There’s also imagery of Amenhotep II, the Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of the Exodus.

I’d like to focus on the aspect of Freneau relating the bee to humans. There’s clearly an alliteration to human nature in this poem, whether it’s the question “Did wars distress, or labours vex,” things that bees hardly do, or the straight-forward mention of men, “And drown the griefs of men or bees.” Through nature, we get a sense that the bee, or humans, are thrown around, and get lost on their path. Wine is made from natural ingredients, and yet, it’s made by humans to produce an effect. When thinking of this idea, Lewis Leary, when talking about nature in Freneau’s poems, uses interesting wording that I want to examine. He writes, “…some of Freneau’s loveliest lines, early or late, speak of the beneficence, the beauty, and the baleful power of nature, which guarantees but frail duration to a flower, a person, or a beast-a nature that is kindly but that may also, like people, wreck terrifying havoc…” (Leary, 157). Leary sees Freneau’s poetry as creating nature as more humanistic in that it is calm, except for when you anger it. “On A Honey Bee” is a moment of calmness for nature, but from it, I get the sense that it is not nature’s fault if you die. Rather, it is your own fault for veering off of nature’s path.

“On A Honey Bee” also uses a couple different references to Greek Mythology. In the first stanza, we get a mention of Bacchus, and in the last stanza, Freneau mentions Charon. The line is, “Go, take your seat in Charon's boat,” Charon is the ferryman for Hades, and is responsible to bring souls across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world from the living and the dead. I find this illustration an interesting one, because the bee is going to drown, and then be taken in a boat to the dead, almost an oxymoronic symbol. One of the things that this poem does well is integrates so many different theologies and histories, whether it’s Greek Mythology or Bible mythology, Freneau has a way to spin many different themes into a small idea.

Freneau spent his whole life writing, and most of the things he wrote that he is remembered for is his patriotic writing. He helped America get through the Revolution with his writing, but also physically, by managing a ship. He credited by some as being the start of Romanticism in America, and yet, “On A Honey Bee” illustrates his knack of turning something so small into a large landscape of different metaphors. It is for this reason that I believe “On A Honey Bee” should be included in maritime literature. Not just for its mention of water, but for the shear versatility of his writing.

Works Cited

Freneau, Philip. “On A Honey Bee.” Early Americas Digital Archive. 2002. Web.

Elliott, Emory. “Freneau, Philip.” Princeton.edu. Web.

Leary, Lewis. "The Dream Visions Of Philip Freneau." Early American Literature 11.2 (1976): 156-173. MLA International Bibliography. Web.

On A Honey Bee by Philip Freneau

A Man Standing on Waste in Bubbly Creek in Chicago in 1911: Ambrosia Danielle Straub, “The Photograph That Says What Any Industrious Society Needs to Hear.”

        The city of Chicago sits on the edge of one of the Great Lakes – Lake Michigan – and it is also surrounded by several types of bodies of water from swamps to creeks, and rivers to streams. “Before the first skyscrapers or the Second City, wedged between Lake Michigan and the branches of the Chicago River, a city rose at the crossroads of America, what became the nation's third coast,” (Van Winkle). Chicago is not just a mere city; rather it is a stepping-stone in the creation of modern-day America. It did not take long for settlers to make a name for themselves along the coast of Lake Michigan, and therein lays the problem; “Chicago’s rapid growth also took an environmental toll on the city’s primary waterway…the river was a source of livelihood in the pre-industrial age and developed into a resource for mills, waste dumping and shipping as the industrial revolution took hold,” (Van Winkle). Chicago grew too rapidly for her own good. The original settlers knew the benefit of having a water source at their back door and later on, the people of Chicago chose to grow their industrial businesses on the Chicago River especially.

        The Chicago River is: “…shallow and slow moving but it had much potential because [of] what it provided the settlers…the key to a system of water routes that connects the waters of the mid-continent to the open waters of the Great Lakes [and] drink, food, and a safe harbor," (Lee). The Chicago River holds hands with Chicago’s portion of Lake Michigan’s Eastern shoreline. The original river flowed directly into the Lake, and with it, the pollution and disease that came with the city’s industrial growth, as stated in one article: “Cholera and typhoid epidemics ravaged the city at the time as polluted river water flowed into the lake, the source of the city’s drinking water,” (Van Winkle). As one of the main contributors to the pollution was the stockyards, who dumped their unused animal parts directly into the river, the river became unsafe from bacteria and filth in general. When the diseased water flowed into the Lake, and subsequently everyone’s drinking and bathing water, the population of Chicago quickly dwindled.

        The photograph is of the area of the Chicago River known as Bubbly Creek due to the enormous amounts of pollution that made the river “bubble”, although this photograph was taken after the pollution had begun to be cleared out due to man’s engineering a complete reversal of the entire river so that it flowed in the opposite direction. Little is known about the photograph itself, and even less is known about the photographer. All that is known is what is read from the photograph itself in conjunction with its historical background. Looking at the outside forces that impacted the photograph, more specifically, the equipment used to take the photograph, it can be read that the water droplets that came, assumedly, from a slight drizzle in the area on the day that the photograph was captured, rest on the camera lens almost as a group of tears shed for the tragedy that befell the Chicago River. The specks of dirt that litter the camera’s lens add to the overall soiled feeling. The fact that this photograph is in black and white is due to the limited technology in the early 1900’s, but the overall black, white, and grey feeling in this photograph leaves the viewer with a sense of what dull and dreary colors were actually present at the time. Furthermore, the choice to take this photograph on such an overcast and depressing day completely changes the tone from the way it would have looked if it was a bright and sunny day. This technique is called low key lighting, and it creates dramatic contrasts which aids the photograph in giving off an unsettling feeling.

        The image itself is a full-shot, meaning that it is a shot of a subject – the man in the overcoat – that includes his entire body as well as a portion of the environment. In this case, the term “environment” is taken literally. This is also a high-angle shot which gives the viewer a sense of looking down upon the subject, in this case, the viewer is forced to look down on the pollution and the damage man has done to the river that gave its city life.  The backdrop of the river is left blurry due to the shallow focus used to take the photograph so that it is washed out due to the mist and to the distance, advocating the negative feelings this photograph initially invokes. The buildings on the right are reflected perfectly and clearly in the very still river so as to call upon the viewers’ feelings of loneliness. The riverbank behind the man is foaming, yet looking across the river at the still waters show that the river is not moving. This shows the viewer that this is not a scene with roaring rapids that could churn up a foamy bank, but rather a still-polluted river that needs very little motion to bubble over thus retaining the name of Bubbly Creek.

        The area beyond the man shows that the photograph has a large depth of field; the detail in the background, while blurry and distorted by the mist as well as the distance, still contains plenty of information, especially in the form of lines. Lines can draw the viewers’ eyes around the picture, and eventually to the vanishing point, which aids the viewer in comprehending the general environment. The fact that the photographer chose that spot and lined up the camera in that exact angle shows that the photograph is intended to show the overall atmosphere of this piece of Bubbly Creek.

        The main character in the photograph, aside from the environment, is the man in the overcoat. Generally, when viewing any photograph, the eye is immediately drawn to the brightest area, but in the case of this picture, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the center-most figure, and that is the man; the attention placed on the man is aided by the fact that the camera is focused on him as well as the sludge that he is standing in. The water around the sludge and the slight reflection on the river directly behind the man are the brightest parts of the photograph; conversely, the darkest figures in the photograph are the man and the man-made buildings that help produce the sludge that the he is able to stand on. In conjunction with the history of the Chicago River, this reversal in form represents the reversal of the river itself.

        The feelings evoked from this photograph are unsettling. Without acknowledging the historical background of the image, it is easy to write it off as a sad scene; in reality, it is anything but. When adding the background information about the image, it turns into a terrible and disgusting scene that was almost as bad as it could get. The lack of sunlight on the day this was taken leaves the man without a shadow, further adding feelings of loneliness and despair. The gritty quality of the photograph that came as par for the course in photography in the early 1900’s only gives it an additional raw and intimate feeling, as well as a sense of the man's disgust and disappointment, while his pose gives a feeling of ashamedness because the pollution and degradation shown in this picture is the fault of man and their machine. The fact that most of the items in the image are in the foreground leaves the viewer with a sense of this issue invading their personal space, reminding everyone that the problem of the pollution is a personal issue as it impacts every citizen who lives anywhere near the river. All in all, the photograph rips into the viewers minds and induces a general unpleasant feeling that will, hopefully, enlighten people to the problems of pollution, and what it does to the world as well as what it will still do, years down the road.

In summation, this photograph is an important addition to maritime literature as it depicts a time when the entire city of Chicago nearly ceased to exist. The river depicted in the photograph is historically significant, as Lee points out, “The history of the Chicago River is one of the most important features of Chicago history.” The history includes the mass amount of pollution that riddled the water, and killed over five percent of the population before initial measures were taken. The original pollution still impacts the river to this day. “The Chicago River today is very much improved and continues to improve each day. Although the river has toxic sediment, the water quality is much cleaner because of increasingly efficient water treatment systems,” (Lee). The river is doing much better thanks to improvements made to change the degradation that is depicted in the photograph into the strong banks it has today, but the waters are still unable to be safely fished, safely swam in, or safely ingested, even though it has been well over 100 years since the Chicago river’s was reversed in order to fix its problems and save the lives of countless Chicagoans, Lee reminds the readers that, "Chicago owes its existence to the Chicago River and the river owes its present form to Chicago." This photograph shows the viewer how close America came to losing both the river and the city due to the settlers mistreating the river. Perhaps more importantly, on a global scale, this photograph is also a reminder of man’s impact on the world as a whole.

Lee, Sylvia. "The Reversal of the Chicago River in 1900." Illinois Periodicals Online.

        Northern Illinois University, Apr. 2001. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

        <http://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/ihy010452.html>.

Van Winkle, Kate. "Chicago River Played a Critical Part in City's

        Development." Medill/Northwestern.edu. Northwestern University, 30 Jan.

        2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

        <http://newsarchive.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news214797.html>.