War Poetry of the South | Page 2

exhibit the sentiment and opinion prevailing more or less
generally throughout the whole. The editor has had special advantages
in making the compilation. Having a large correspondence in most of
the Southern States, he has found no difficulty in procuring his material.
Contributions have poured in upon him from all portions of the South;
the original publications having been, in a large number of cases,
subjected to the careful revision of the several authors. It is a matter of
great regret with him that the limits of the present volume have not
suffered him to do justice to, and find a place for, many of the pieces
which fully deserve to be put on record. Some of the poems were quite
too long for his purpose; a large number, delayed by the mails and
other causes, were received too late for publication. Several collections,
from Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas, especially, are omitted for
this reason. Many of these pieces are distinguished by fire, force,
passion, and a free play of fancy. Briefly, his material would enable
him to prepare another volume, similar to the present, which would not
be unworthy of its companionship. He is authorized by his publisher to
say that, in the event of the popular success of the present volume, he
will cheerfully follow up its publication by a second, of like style,
character, and dimensions.
The editor has seen with pleasure the volume of "Rebel Rhymes" edited
by Mr. Moore, and of "South Songs," by Mr. De Leon. He has seen,
besides, a single number of a periodical pamphlet called "The Southern
Monthly," published at Memphis, Tenn. This has been supplied him by
a contributor. He has seen no other publications of this nature, though
he has heard of others, and has sought for them in vain. There may be
others still forthcoming; for, in so large a field, with a population so
greatly scattered as that of the South, it is a physical impossibility
adequately to do justice to the whole by any one editor; and each of the
sections must make its own contributions, in its own time, and
according to its several opportunities. There will be room enough for
all; and each, I doubt not, will possess its special claims to recognition
and reward.
His own collections, made during the progress of the war, from the
newspapers, chiefly, of South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia, were

copious. Of these, many have been omitted from this collection, which,
he trusts, will some day find another medium of publication. He has
been able to ascertain the authorship, in many cases, of these writings;
but must regret still that so many others, under a too fastidious delicacy,
deny that their names should be made known. It is to be hoped that they
will hereafter be supplied. To the numerous ladies who have so frankly
and generously contributed to this collection, by sending originals and
making copies, he begs to offer his most grateful acknowledgments.
A large proportion of the pieces omitted are of elegiac character. Of
this class, he could find a place for such pieces only as were dedicated
to the most distinguished of the persons falling in battle, or such as are
marked by the higher characteristics of poetry--freshness, thought, and
imagination. But many of the omitted pieces are quite worthy of
preservation. Much space has not been given to that class of songs,
camp catches, or marching ballads, which are so numerous in the
"Rebel Rhymes" of Mr. Moore. The songs which are most popular are
rarely such as may claim poetical rank. They depend upon lively music
and certain spirit-stirring catchwords, and are rarely worked up with
much regard to art or even, propriety. Still, many of these should have
found a place in this volume, had adequate space been allowed the
editor. It is his desire, as well as that of the publisher, to collect and
bind together these fugitives in yet another publication. He will
preserve the manuscripts and copies of all unpublished pieces, with the
view to this object--keeping them always subject to the wishes of their
several writers.
At the close, he must express the hope that these poems will be
recognized, not only as highly creditable to the Southern mind, but as
truly illustrative, if not justificatory of, that sentiment and opinion with
which they have been written; which sentiment and opinion have
sustained their people through a war unexampled in its horrors in
modern times, and which has fully tested their powers of endurance, as
well as their ability in creating their own resources, under all reverses,
and amidst every form of privation.
W.G.S.

Brooklyn, September 8, 1866.
Contents.
Ethnogenesis, Henry Timrod
God Save the South, George H. Miles

"You can never win them back", Catherine M. Warfield
The Southern
Cross,