Songs of the South; choice selections from Southern poets from colonial times to the present day

Front matter

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A

.V

Introduction

So far as the writer knows, this volume is the first of American anthologies devoted wholly to verses produced by Southern writers. There have been collections of the war poetry of the South, and there are others that deal with all forms of Southern literary talent ; but the following pages are given over entirely to selections from the writings of those who have made contributions to American verse.

Miss Clarke has made the collection with the industry and enthusiasm that are necessary to the success of such an undertaking, and her selections have been made with taste and judgment. She has had access to more than one private collection of verses by Southern writers, and has thus been able to embody here many lyrics that lived a brief and fugitive life in the newspapers of their time and were then forgotten.

As must be the case with all anthologies, special in their purpose and limited in their scope, much will be found in this volume that cannot, in the highest sense, be characterized as poetry. This is inevitable. If the intention of the editor had been to preserve verses only of the highest order of merit, a very small volume would contain all that has been produced in the New World since its discovery. A few — a very few — American authors have produced poetry that carries with it the promise of permanency, — the flavor that is fragrant generation after generation.

It is neither too early nor too late to say that whatever in our literature is distinctively Southern must, for that

Vi INTRODUCTION.

very reason, be distinctively American, A healthy provinciality has its excuse in raciness, even if, on occasion, it should strike the note of prejudice. The atmosphere in which our people move is clearer now than it was a half-century ago. If some of us do not see differently, we see farther. Many threatening and obscuring vapors have been dissipated. Now, as always, people of the same race and blood, under pressure of different conditions and circumstances, develop different views and aims, but, in this day and time, the matter of environment is taken into account by wise men of every shade of belief : the result being that the supersensitiveness which marked the early progress of the people of all sections of the republic is tempered by that spirit of good humor which, spreading out from middle Georgia, has come to be recognized as a distinctively national trait.

In view of these changes and developments, it is safe to say that this collection of verses by Southern writers will meet with a cordial reception in all parts of the country. Some of the lyrics to be found in the volume have already taken their place as favorites in the public mind, and a great many that will be new to the reading public of to-day will be found to be more than worthy of the rescuing hand which Miss Clarke has held out to them.

Those who may feel disposed to criticise the collection as a whole should bear in mind the fact that the scheme of this anthology goes a little deeper than a mere purpose to present only those selections that touch the high-watermark of minor verse. The student will find in it many of the suggestions that illuminate history, — especially the history of sociology, — and in this direction the least meritorious selection to be found has its proper place and use.

For the rest, the collection will stand for itself.

Joel Chandler Harris.

EDITOR'S NOTE.

The verse-writers of the Southern States have not been few in number, but their work, pubHshed in small volumes and small editions, has not attracted the attention of collectors, and little of it is preserved in libraries. So little is to be found in the anthologies of Bryant, Whittier, Dana, and other American compilers, that its conspicuous absence first suggested to me the need for this compilation.

One volume would not contain all the specimens of Southern poetry that we wish to preserve, and I am aware of having omitted many as worthy of place here as some that are included ; but I hope not to have failed in my purpose, — to give representative poems of the best-known authors ; to preserve favorites, some of them anonymous, scattered through out-of-print books and periodicals ; to place all these within easy reach of a people too careless of their own poets.

The biographical notes are appended chiefly to vindicate my claim that these writers are Southerners, and they, therefore, contain little more than names and dates. As to Southerners by adoption, there is room for difference of opinion. The writings of Margaret J. Preston, Maurice Thompson, and Robert Burns Wilson afford internal evidence sufficient in their respective cases. I have accepted without question the classification of James Wood Davidson's "Living Writers of the South" (Carleton, 1869), and Miss Louise Manly' s "Southern Literature" (B. F. Johnson & Co., Richmond, 1895), and in some cases I may have yielded to the temptation to give the South the

vii viii EDITOR'S NOTE.

benefit of a doubt. Where authorship is disputed, I have given the poem without assuming to decide the question.

In all cases where I could ascertain that matter was copyrighted, I have asked permission to use it, and thanks are due to authors and publishers who have promptly and kindly consented that I should make extracts or copy portraits from their publications. Among them are Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, Frederick A. Stokes Co., Houghton, Mifflin & Co., D. Appleton & Co., Lothrop Publishing Co., J. B. Lippincott Co., Copeland & Day, Roberts Bros., and A. D. F. Randolph & Co. The portrait of Edgar Allan Poe is taken from Woodbury's " Life," by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

In conclusion, I gladly and gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to many friends, known and unknown, whose prompt and generous aid has rendered this book far more satisfactory than I dared to hope when I began my labor of love. I pray them and others to continue that kindness by suggesting any improvements that may be made hereafter. As it is now, I commit it to lovers of Southern literature everywhere, hoping, in the words of Paul Hayne, that

" Not in empty air to die Poet and song have passed us by, With all their varied harmony."

Jennie Thornley Clarke.

Georgia Normal and Industrial College,

INDEX OF TITLES.

PAGE

Acknowledgment. By Sidney Lanier 209

After Wings. By S. M. B. Piatt 183

All Quiet Along the Potomac. By Lamar Fontaine loi

America to Great Britain. By Washington Allston 4

Angel Watchers. By Rosa Vertner Jeffrey 93

Anise and Cummin. By Margaret J. Preston 116

Annabel Lee. By Edgar Allan Poe 42

Ashes of Glory. By A, J. Requier 99

As Some Mysterious Wanderer of the Skies. By Henry J.

Stockard 281

Back-Log, The. By Innes Randolph 286

Balaklava. By Alex. Beaufort Meek 58

Beethoven and Angelo. By John B. Tabb 243

Before Death. By Margaret J. Preston 114

Bells, The. By Edgar Allan Poe 30

Bereft. By Annah Robertson Watson 296

Beside Love's Bier. By R. T. W. Duke, ]r 261

Bessie Brown, M.D. By Samuel M. Peck 265

Bivouac of the Dead. By Theodore O'Hara 70

Blemished Offering, The. By M. J. Preston 115

Blessing on the Dance, A. By Irwin Russell 253

Bhnd Boy, The. By Francis Lister Hawks 18

Boatman's Horn, The. By William Orlando Butler 15

Bonny Brown Hand, The. By Paul H. Hayne 146

" Bring Back my Flowers." By R. M. Charlton 28

Bronze John and his Saffron Plume. By Mary Walsingham . 200

Buried To-day, By L. Virginia French 94

Cameo Bracelet, The. By James R. Randall 192

Captain's Feather, The. By S. M. Peck 266

Carcassonne. By John R. Thompson 83

ix

X INDEX OF TITLES.

PACK

Chastened Grief. By Andrew A. Lipscomb 130

Chisel-Work. By Margaret J. Preston no

Closing Year, The. By George D. Prentice 22

Conquered at Last. By Maria Lou Eve 234

Conquered Banner, The. By Abram J. Ryan 189

Cotton Boll, The. By Henry Timrod 137

Counsel. By Mollie E. M. Davis 254

Creed. By Mary Ashley Townsend 183

Daughter of Mendoza. By Mirabeau B. Lamar 17

Death of the Maiden. By Henry M. Clarkson 198

December Rose, A. By Lizette W. Reese 305

Dinner-Horn, The. By William T. Dumas 274

Dixie. By Albert Pike 47

Dixie. By Fannie M. Downing 165

Doubt. By Lizette W. Reese 306

Dreaming in the Trenches. By WilUam Gordon McCabe . . 147

Drifting. By Alba Malone 304

Ebo. By A. C. Gordon 267

Edgar Allan Poe. By Clifford Lanier 214

Eleven Years Ago. By Julia Bacon .• 155

Elusion. By George Herbert Sass 226

Endymion. By Susan Archer Weiss 152

Eve of All Saints. By Madison Cawein 300

Every Year. By Albert Pike 44

Exile to his Wife. By Joseph Brennan 131

Fair Daughter of the Sun. By Robert Burns Wilson .... 246

Father Damien. By John B. Tabb 243

Favorite of Five. By S. M. B. Piatt 182

Fawn, The. By Maurice Thompson 220

Fig-Merchant, The. By Margaret J. Preston 119

Florence Vane. By Philip Pendleton Cooke 63

Ganges Dream, A. By Theo. H. Hill . 176

Georgia Volunteer, A. By Mary Ashley Townsend 185

Going Out and Coming In. By M. E. M. Davis 255

Gone Forward. By Margaret J. Preston 118

" Graves Stood Tenantless, The." By Mel R. Colquitt . . , 260

Guard thine Action. By Sallie A. V. R. Malone 126

Guy de Mayne. By Susan Archer Weiss 150

INDEX OF TITLES. xi

PAGE

Hark to the Shouting Wind. By Henry Timrod 135

Haunted. By Eliza Frances Andrews 232

Haunted Palace, The. By Edgar Allan Poe 41

Health, A. By Edward Coate Pinckney 20

Heroism. By Lizette W. Reese 306

He Who hath loved. By Walter Malone 294

I have seen this Place before. By Catherine A. Warfield ... 64

I Miss Thee. Anonymous 313

Impennate. By Lulah Ragsdale 308

In looking on the Happy Autumn Fields. By James Lane

Allen 280

Insomnia. By John B. Tabb 243

In the Wheat-Field. By Paul H. Hayne 144

Irish Fairy Story, An. By S. M. B. Piatt 179

I shall find Rest. By Robert Burns Wilson 245

I sigh for the Land of the Cypress and Pine. By Samuel Henry

Dickson 19

Israfel. By Edgar Allan Poe 39

John Pelham. By James R. Randall 196

Juliette. By Joel Chandler Harris 237

Keats. By Robert Burns Wilson 244

Kin. By Asa Rogers Watson 213

Lament of the Captive. By R. H. Wilde 13

Last Slumber, The. By Myrta Lockett Avary 300

Leave Me not Yet, My Mother ! By M. E. Drew 314

Lesson of the Leaf, The. By Charles W. Hubner 167

Life. By Francis Scott Key 7

Lines on Old Blandford Church. By Eliza L. Hening .... 52

Little Giffen. By Frank O. Ticknor 79

Little Pilgrims. By Elvira Sydnor Miller 294

Long Ago, The. By Philo Henderson 77

Love-Feast at Waycross, The. By Frank L. Stanton .... 277

MagnoHa Blossom, A. By Annie Warren Marshall 309

Mahs' Lewis' Last Ride. By W. W. Hendree 247

Marion, the Swamp-Fox. By W. Gilmore Simms 26

Marshes of Glynn, The. By Sidney Lanier 204

Mecklenburg Declaration, The. By Wilham C. Elam .... 230 xii INDEX OF TITLES.

PAGE

Memories. By John Esten Cooke 143

Message of the Flowers. By M. M. Jouvenat 242

Mighty Sepulchre, The. By Mary E. Bryan 228

Missing. Anonymous 104

Mocking- Bird, The. By Sidney Lanier 213

Mocking-Bird, The. By Alex. Beaufort Meek 61

Moneyless Man, The. By Henry T. Stanton 164

Morituri Salutamus. By John Dickson Bruns 171

Music in Camp. By John R. Thompson 80

Musings. By Amelia B. Welby 69

My Babes in the Wood. By S. M. B. Piatt 181

My Castle. By S. Newton Berryhill 160

^y Dead Friend. By Frank L. Stanton 278

My Laddie's Hounds. By Marguerite E. Easter 241

My Life is hke the Summer Rose. By R. H. Wilde 13

My Maryland. By James R. Randall 194

My Sorrow. By R. T. W. Duke, Jr 261

My Wife and Child. By Henry R. Jackson 75

Name in the Sand, A. By George D. Prentice 25

Ode for Decoration Day. By Henry Timrod 135

Ode to Ease. By R. H. Wilde 9

Old Blandford Church. By Eliza L. Hening 52

Old Canoe, The. Anonymous 102

Old North State, The. By William Gaston 3

Old School-House, The. By W. C. Richardson 88

Only One. By Lide Meriwether 142

On seeing an Infant sleeping. By Amelia B. Welby 69

Origin of the Fiddle. By Irwin Russell 251

Our Anglo-Saxon Tongue. By James Barron Hope 125

Over an Old Letter. By James Lindsay Gordon 311

Over the Sea lies Spain. By Charles W. Coleman 306

Palmetto and the Pine. By L. Virginia French 96

Passing under the Rod. By Mary S. B. D. Shindler 53

Patriotism. By John R. Thompson 85

Picture, The, By William H. Holcombe 91

Poe's Cottage at Fordham. By John Henry Boner 222

Prayer of Agur, The. By Hamilton Jay 229

Quatrain, The. By Robert Loveman 304

INDEX OF TITLES. xiii

PAGE

Rainbow, The. By Amelia B. Welby 67

Raven, The. By Edgar Allan Poe 33

Red Old Hills of Georgia. By Henry R. Jackson 74

Regret. By Frances M. Tiernan 239

Resignation. By St. George Tucker i

River Tallulah. By William J. Grayson 8

River, The. By Mary Carter Hill 235

Sea-Side Flirtation. By Samuel M. Peck 263

Sea-Weeds. By Annie Chambers Ketchum 90

Sidney Lanier. By Waitman Barbe 298

Simple Song, A. By James Chester Rockwell 316

Siren, The. By Thomas B. Ford 293

Soldier Boy, The. By " H. M. L." 105

Soldier's Fate, The. By William H. Hayne 270

Soldier's Grave, The. By Ehza P. Nicholson 188

Somebody's Darling. By Marie La Coste 203

Song — We break the Glass. By Edward C. Pinckney .... 22

Song — Who has robbed the Ocean Cave ? By John Shaw . . 2

Song for the South, A. By Samuel M. Peck 264

Song of the Chattahoochee. By Sidney Lanier 211

Song of Steam. By George W. Cutter 50

Sonnet. By Henry Timrod 136

Spring. By Henry Timrod 132

Stab, The. By Will Wallace Harney 154

Star-Spangled Banner, The. By Francis Scott Key 6

St. Augustine. By Montgomery M. Folsom 271

Stonewall Jackson's Grave. By Margaret J. Preston 120

Stonewall Jackson's Way. By J. W. Palmer 108

Struggle. By Sidney Lanier 211

Success. By Margaret A. Logan 259

Supposition, A. By Nettie Houston Bringhurst 289

Sword of Robert Lee, The. By Father Ryan 191

Tallulah. By James M. Legare 86

Thane's Saying, The. By William Preston Johnston .... 162

'Tis said that Absence conquers Love. By F. W. Thomas . . 57

To a Mocking-Bird. By H. J. Stockard 282

To an English Nightingale. By Maurice Thompson 215

To a Poet. By Danske Dandridge 284

To Mary. By John Archer Clarke 159

To my Comrade Tree. By Danske Dandridge 282 xiv INDEX OF TITLES.

PAGE

To Time,— The Old Traveller. By William H. Timrod ... 14

Two Pictures. By Mary Bayard Clarke 149

Two Selves. By Maud Andrews Ohl 297

Uncle Gabe's White Folks. By Thomas Nelson Page .... 257

Under the Violets. By Edward Young 66

Unequal Marriage. By Logan E. Bleckley 127

Ungenerous. By Leonora Beck 299

Virginians of the Valley. By Frank O. Ticknor 78

Virginia's Dead. Anonymous 106

Vulture, The. By Harry- Stilwell Edwards 262

Washington. By James Barron Hope . .' 124

W^eb of Tatting, A. By Jeannette Caruthers 290

We Met. By Laura Gwyn 157

What is Life ? By Sallie A. Brock 224

What she brought me. By Harry L. Flash 170

Wife, The. By Anne Peyre Dinnies 65

Woman's Wish, A. By Mary Ashley Townsend 187

Worthiness. By Charles J. O'Malley 270

Year in Heaven, A. By Margaret J. Preston iii

Year or Two More, A. By W. P. Rivers 128

Young Widow, The. By Robert Josselyn 56

Zolli coffer. By Harry L. Flash 169

INDEX OF AUTHORS.

(Brief Biographical Notes will be found in the Appendix.)

A

PAGE

Allen, James Lane . ■ 280

Allston, Washington 4

Andrews, Eliza F. (Elzey Hay) 232

Andrews, Maude. (See Ohl) 297

AVARY, MYRTA LOCKETT 300

B.

Bacon, Julia 155

Barbe, Waitman 298

Beck, Leonora 299

Berryhill, S. Newton 160

Bleckley, Logan E 127

Boner, John H 222

Brennan, Joseph 131

Bringhurst, Nettie Houston 289

Brock, Sallie A. (See Putnam) 224

Bruns, John Dickson 171

Bryan, Mary Edwards 228

Butler, William Orlando 15

C.

Caruthers, Jeannette 290

Cawein, Madison 300

Charlton, Robert M 28

Clarke, John Archer 159

Clarke, Mary Bayard 149

Clarkson, Henry Mazyck 198

Coleman Charles W 306

XV xvi INDEX OF AUTHORS.

PAGE

Colquitt, Mel R 260

Cooke, John Esten 143

Cooke, Philip Pendleton .... 63

Cutter, George W 50

D.

Dana, Mary S. B. (See Shindler) 53

Dandridge, Danske 282

Davis, Mollie E. Moore 254

Dickson, Samuel Henry ig

DiNNiES, Anna Peyre 65

Downing, Fanny M 165

Drew, Mrs. M. E 314

Dumas, William T 274

E.

Easter, Marguerite E 241

Edwards, Harry Stilwell 262

Elam, William C 230

Eve, Maria Lou 234

F.

Flash, Harry Lynden 169

FoLsoM, Montgomery M 271

Fontaine, Lamar loi

Ford, Thomas B 293

French, L. Virginia 94

G.

Gaston, William 3

Gordon, A. C 267

Gordon, James Lindsay 311

Grayson, William J 8

Gwyn, Laura 157

H.

Harney, Will Wallace 154

Harris, Joel Chandler 237

Hawks, Francis Lister 18

Hayne, Paul Hamilton 144

INDEX OF AUTHORS. xvii

PAGE

Hayne, William H 270

Henderson, Philo ^j

Hendree, William Woodson 247

Hening, Eliza L 52

Hill, Mary Carter 235

Hill, Theo. H 176

Holcombe, William H 91

Hope, James Barron 124

Hubner, Charles W 167

J-

Jackson, Henry R 74

Jay, Hamilton 229

Jeffrey, Rosa Vertner 93

Johnston, William Preston 162

Josselyn, Robert : 56

JouvENAT, Mrs. M. M 242

K.

Ketchum, Annie Chambers 90

Key, Francis Scott 6

L.

La Coste, Marie 203

Lamar, Mirabeau B 17

Lanier, Clifford 214

Lanier, Sidney 204

Legare, James M 86

Lipscomb, Andrew A 130

Logan, Margaret A 259

LovEMAN, Robert 304

M.

Malone, Alba 304

Malone, Walter 294

Marshall, Annie Warren 309

McCabe, William Gordon 147

Meek, Alexander Beaufort 58

Meriwether, Mrs. Lide 142

Miller, Elvira Sydnor 294

Moore, Mollie E. (See Davis) 255 xviii INDEX OF AUTHORS.

N.

PAGE

Nicholson, Eliza Poitevent (" Pearl Rivers") i88

O.

O'Hara, Theodore 70

Ohl, Maude Andrews 297

O'Malley, Charles J 270

P.

Page, Thomas Nelson 257

Palmer, John Williamson 108

Peck, Samuel Minturn 263

Piatt, Sarah M. B 179

Pike, Albert 44

Pinckney, Edward Coate 20

PoE, Edgar Allan 30

Prentice, George Denison 22

Preston, Margaret Junkin no

Putnam, Sallie A 224

R.

Ragsdal'e, Lulah 308

Randall, James Ryder 192

Randolph, Innes 286

Reese, Lizette Woodworth 305

Reid, Christian. (See Tieman) 239

Requier, Augustus Julian 99

Richardson, W. C 88

Rivers, Pearl. (See Nichoho7i) 188

Rivers, William Penn 128

Rockwell, James Chester 316

Russell, Irwin 251

Ryan, Abram J. (Father Ryan) 189

S.

Sass, George Herbert 226

Shaw, John 2

Shindler, Mary S. B. Dana 53

Simms, William Gilmore 26

INDEX OF AUTHORS. xix

PAGE

Stanton, Frank Lebby 277

Stanton, Henry T 164

Stockard, Henry Jerome 281

T.

Tabb, John B 243

Talley, Susan Archer. (See Weiss) 150

Thomas, Frederick W 57

Thompson, John Reuben 80

Thompson, Maurice 215

TiCKNOR, Francis Orrery 78

TiERNAN, Frances Fisher 239

TiMROD, Henry 132

TiMROD, William H 14

TowNSEND, Mary Ashley 183

Tucker, St. George i

W.

Walsingham, Mary 200

Warfield, Catherine A 64

Watson, Annah Robertson 296

Watson, Asa Rogers 213

Weiss. Susan Archer Talley 150

Welby, Amelia B 67

Wilde, Richard Henry 9

Wilson, Robert Burns 244

Y.

Young, Edward 66

RESIGNATION ; OR, DAYS OF MY YOUTH.

ST. GEORGE TUCKER.

Days of my youth,

Ye have glided away ; Hairs of my youth.

Ye are frosted and gray ; Eyes of my youth,

Your keen sight is no more ; Cheeks of my youth,

Ye are furrowed all o' er ; Strength of my youth,

All your vigor is gone ; Thoughts of m_y youth,

Your gay visions are flown.

II. Days of my youth

I wish not your recall ; Hairs of my youth,

I'm content ye should fall ; Eyes of my youth,

You much evil have seen ; Cheeks of my youth.

Bathed in tears have you been ; I

SONGS OF THE SOUTH.

Thoughts of my youth, You have led me astray ;

Strength of my youth,

Why lament your decay ?