Following his graduation, Freneau tried his hand at teaching, but quickly gave it up. He also pursued a further study of theology, but gave this up as well after about two years. In 1776, Freneau left America for the West Indies, where he would spend time writing about the beauty of nature.
In 1778, Freneau returned to America, and rejoined the patriotic cause. Freneau eventually became a crew member on a revolutionary privateer, and was captured in this capacity. He was held on a British prison ship for about six weeks. This unpleasant experience precipitated many more patriotic and anti-British writings throughout the revolution and after.
After all, Freneau retired to a more rural life and wrote a mix of political and nature works. The non-political works of Freneau are a combination of neoclassicism and romanticism.
"The Wild Honey Suckle" is his nature poem. It is a regular six poetry.
It is about a flower’s shot life, it tells us to be positive when you face the difficult. And be sure of what you like and love for your life. It was considered an early seed to the later Transcendentalist movement.