The non-political works of Freneau combined neoclassicism and romanticism. Although he is not as generally well known as Ralph Waldo Emerson or James Fenimore Cooper, Freneau introduced many themes and images for which later authors became famous. For example, Freneau's poem "The House of Night", one of the early romantic poems written and published in America, included the Gothic elements and dark imagery that later were seen in the poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. Freneau's nature poem "The Wild Honey Suckle" (1786) was considered an early seed to the later Transcendentalist movement taken up by William Cullen Bryant, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Romantic primitivism was anticipated by Freneau's poems "The Indian Burying Ground" and "Noble Savage."
Memorials to him in Matawan include:
- The Matawan Post Office on Main Street has a sculpture of Freneau on its wall, depicting him with black slaves as he was an abolitionist later in life. It was created in 1939 by Armin Scheler under a New Deal commission from the Treasury Department.
- There is a Freneau fire company on Main Street/Route 79.
- A site Freneau frequented in Matawan is now in use as a restaurant. From 1961 until 2008, it operated as The Poet's Inn, honoring Freneau's memory. The business has changed hands several times, and the building has been renovated over the years.[7]
- Freneau, New Jersey, an unincorporated community within Matawan, was named in his honor.[8]
- Freneau Woods Park, named after Philip Morin Freneau, whose family once partly owned the property is located along the headwaters of Matawan Creek and Lake Lefferts. This 313-acre park is comprised mostly of woodland and protects critical wildlife habitat and bolsters water quality in the region. Both historically and environmentally significant, the park provides open space in a densely populated area of the county.
In 2022, the band Bird in the Belly used the words from Freneau's poem "Pestilence" for their concept album After the city. The lyrics appear in the song "Pale Horse" and represent the arrival of the pale horse into their fictional depiction of London.[9]
