Southern Life in Southern Literature
THE LANIER OAK, FACING THE MARSHES OF GLYNN, NEAR BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA
SOUTHERN LIFE IN SOUTHERN
LITERATURE
SELECTIONS OF REPRESENTATIVE
PROSE AND POETRY
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
MAURICE GARLAND FULTON
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, DAVIDSON COLLEGE
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON . NEW YORK . CHICAGO . LONDON
ATLANTA . DALLAS . COLUMBUS . SAN FRANCISCO
COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY MAURICE GARLAND FULTON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
217.1
The Athenæum Press
GINN AND COMPANY PROPRIETORS BOSTON U.S.A.
PREFACE
In this book I have endeavored to represent as adequately as might be possible within the limits of a volume of moderate size the work of the more important Southern writers. My attempt has been not merely to show the value of literary effort in the South as absolute achievement but also to emphasize its importance as a record of Southern life and character.
Taking literature in the stricter sense of fiction, essay, and poetry, I have omitted the historians, the biographers, and the political writers so frequently used to swell the bulk of Southern literature. In poetry I have endeavored to select poems which have attained some measure of general critical approval. But in some instances, especially in the Civil War poetry, I have included poems obviously without much literary merit because they were household poems of an older generation and embodied in a characteristic way the traditions and spirit of the people who loved them. For much the same reason I have included a few specimens of the vanishing survivals of old English ballads to the presence of which in the South attention has lately been turned.
In the case of the older prose writers, I have drawn upon a very limited number of the most significant works. As most of these were out of print or difficult to secure, I have tried to give a general idea of each by means of liberal excerpts and suitable summaries. Coming to the recent novelists and story-writers, whose number is almost legion, I was compelled to confine myself rigidly to the five pioneers in the new development of fiction in the eighties. The single departure from this principle in the case of William Sidney Porter ("O. Henry") will require no explanation. I have devoted much attention to the humorous writers of the South because of my belief that, although much of this work was rough and crude, it was nevertheless very influential not only in the development of American humor but also in that of realistic fiction.
Better to fit the book to the needs of students, I have tried to organize the material effectively. The table of contents will show that the arrangement is roughly chronological, with such subdivisions as would bring together writers of the same type of literature. Further aids to students have been given in biographical notes, summaries of literary developments, explanations of unfamiliar matters in the selections, and bibliographies—all being held to the briefest compass.
I have given at appropriate places in the book acknowledgments for permission to reprint such of the selections as were under copyright, but I wish here to record in a general way grateful appreciation of the courtesy extended to me in this matter by authors and by publishers.
Davidson College,
Davidson, N. C.
| PART I. THE OLD SOUTH IN LITERATURE | |||
| ESSAYISTS AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITERS | |||
| WILLIAM WIRT | page | ||
| The British Spy's Opinion of The Spectator | 1 | ||
| An Old Virginia Preacher | 4 | ||
| DAVID CROCKETT | |||
| The Bear Hunt | 8 | ||
| JOHN JAMES AUDUBON | |||
| Early Settlers Along the Mississippi | 14 | ||
| WILLIAM ELLIOTT | |||
| A Deer Hunt | 19 | ||
| ROMANCERS AND STORY WRITERS | |||
| EDGAR ALLAN POE | |||
| The Fall of the House of Usher | 28 | ||
| JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY | |||
| Selections from "Swallow Barn" | 50 | ||
| Swallow Barn, an Old Virginia Estate | 50 | ||
| The Master of Swallow Barn | 54 | ||
| The Mistress of Swallow Barn | 57 | ||
| Traces of the Feudal System | 59 | ||
| The Quarter | 64 | ||
| Selections from "Horseshoe Robinson" | 68 | ||
| Horseshoe Robinson | 68 | ||
| Capture of Butler and Horseshoe | 72 | ||
| Horseshoe captures Five Prisoners | 77 | ||
| The Battle of King's Mountain | 90 | ||
| WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS | |||
| Selection from "The Yemassee" | 105 | ||
| The Attack on the Block House | 105 | ||
| JOHN ESTEN COOKE | |||
| Selections from "The Virginia Comedians" | 124 | ||
| Mr. Champ Effingham of Effingham Hall | 124 | ||
| Governor Fauquier's Ball | 128 | ||
| HUMORISTS | |||
| AUGUSTUS BALDWIN LONGSTREET | |||
| The Horse Swap | 151 | ||
| The Turn Out | 161 | ||
| WILLIAM TAPPAN THOMPSON | |||
| Major Jones's Courtship | 170 | ||
| JOSEPH GLOVER BALDWIN | |||
| Ovid Bolus, Esq | 176 | ||
| How the Flush Times Served the Virginians | 180 | ||
| POETS | |||
| ST. GEORGE TUCKER | |||
| Resignation | 188 | ||
| FRANCIS SCOTT KEY | |||
| The Star-Spangled Banner | 190 | ||
| RICHARD HENRY WILDE | |||
| My Life is Like the Summer Rose | 192 | ||
| To the Mocking-Bird | 193 | ||
| EDWARD COATE PINKNEY | |||
| Song | 194 | ||
| A Serenade | 194 | ||
| A Health | 195 | ||
| MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR | |||
| The Daughter of Mendoza | 197 | ||
| ALBERT PIKE | |||
| To the Mocking Bird | 198 | ||
| PHILIP PENDLETON COOKE | |||
| Florence Vane | 200 | ||
| Life in the Autumn Woods | 202 | ||
| THEODORE O'HARA | |||
| The Bivouac of The Dead | 205 | ||
| ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK | |||
| A Song | 209 | ||
| Land of the South | 210 | ||
| The Mocking Bird | 211 | ||
| HENRY ROOTES JACKSON | |||
| The Red Old Hills of Georgia | 213 | ||
| My Wife and Child | 215 | ||
| JAMES MATTHEWS LEGARÉ | |||
| To a Lily | 217 | ||
| Haw Blossoms | 217 | ||
| WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS | |||
| Oh, The Sweet South! | 220 | ||
| The Swamp Fox | 222 | ||
| EDGAR ALLAN POE | |||
| To Helen | 225 | ||
| Israfel | 227 | ||
| The Raven | 228 | ||
| Ulalume | 233 | ||
| Annabel Lee | 237 | ||
| Eldorado | 238 | ||
| PART II. POETRY OF THE CIVIL WAR | |||
| JAMES RYDER RANDALL | |||
| My Maryland | 240 | ||
| John Pelham | 243 | ||
| ALBERT PIKE | |||
| Dixie | 244 | ||
| HARRY McCARTHY | |||
| The Bonnie Blue Flag | 246 | ||
| JOHN ESTEN COOKE | |||
| The Band in the Pines | 247 | ||
| JOHN REUBEN THOMPSON | |||
| Ashby | 249 | ||
| Music in Camp | 250 | ||
| The Burial of Latane | 253 | ||
| WILLIAM GORDON McCABE | |||
| Dreaming in the Trenches | 255 | ||
| Christmas Night of '62 | 256 | ||
| John Pegram | 258 | ||
| JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER | |||
| Stonewall Jackson's Way | 259 | ||
| HENRY LYNDEN FLASH | |||
| Stonewall Jackson | 261 | ||
| THADDEUS OLIVER | |||
| All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night | 262 | ||
| MARIE RAVENEL DE LA COSTE | |||
| Somebody's Darling | 264 | ||
| CAROLINE AUGUSTA BALL | |||
| The Jacket of Gray | 266 | ||
| MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON | |||
| Gone Forward | 268 | ||
| The Shade of the Trees | 269 | ||
| ANONYMOUS | |||
| The Soldier Boy | 270 | ||
| "The Brigade must not Know, Sir!" | 271 | ||
| The Confederate Flag | 272 | ||
| Lines on a Confederate Note | 273 | ||
| ABRAM JOSEPH RYAN | |||
| The Conquered Banner | 275 | ||
| The Sword of Robert Lee | 277 | ||
| HENRY TIMROD | |||
| Carolina | 279 | ||
| A Cry To Arms | 282 | ||
| Charleston | 284 | ||
| Spring | 286 | ||
| The Cotton Boll | 288 | ||
| The Lily Confidante | 293 | ||
| Magnolia Cemetery Ode | 295 | ||
| FRANCIS ORRAY TICKNOR | |||
| Little Giffen | 297 | ||
| The Virginians of the Valley | 298 | ||
| Unknown | 299 | ||
| Page Brook | 300 | ||
| Loyal | 301 | ||
| PART III. THE NEW SOUTH IN LITERATURE | |||
| HUMORISTS | |||
| RICHARD MALCOLM JOHNSTON | |||
| The Goosepond Schoolmaster | 303 | ||
| GEORGE WILLIAM BAGBY | |||
| Jud Brownin's Account of Rubinstein's Playing | 308 | ||
| NOVELISTS AND STORY WRITERS | |||
| GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE | |||
| The Dance in Place Congo | 314 | ||
| JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS | |||
| Brer Rabbit grossly deceives Brer Fox | 324 | ||
| The Cunning Fox is again Victimized | 328 | ||
| MARY NOAILLES MURFREE ("CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK") | |||
| The "Harnt" that walks Chilhowee | 332 | ||
| THOMAS NELSON PAGE | |||
| Marse Chan (Summary) | 342 | ||
| The Training of the Old Virginia Lawyer | 347 | ||
| JAMES LANE ALLEN | |||
| Two Gentlemen of Kentucky | 348 | ||
| WILLIAM SIDNEY PORTER ("O HENRY") | |||
| Two Renegades | 363 | ||
| ESSAYISTS AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITERS | |||
| SUSAN DABNEY SMEDES | |||
| A Southern Planter's Ideals of Honor | 373 | ||
| BASIL LANNEAU GILDERSLEEVE | |||
| The Creed of the Old South | 377 | ||
| WILLIAM PETERFIELD TRENT | |||
| The Diversity among Southerners | 389 | ||
| POETS | |||
| PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE | |||
| A Dream of the South Winds | 400 | ||
| Aspects of the Pines | 401 | ||
| Macdonald's Raid-1780 | 402 | ||
| The Pine's Mystery | 405 | ||
| The Will and the Wing | 405 | ||
| The Axe and Pine | 407 | ||
| Midsummer in the South | 407 | ||
| IRWIN RUSSELL | |||
| Nebuchadnezzar | 410 | ||
| Selling a Dog | 412 | ||
| Dat Peter | 413 | ||
| SIDNEY LANIER | |||
| The Tournament | 416 | ||
| Song of the Chattahoochee | 419 | ||
| The Crystal | 421 | ||
| Sunrise | 422 | ||
| JOHN BANISTER TABB | |||
| My Star | 429 | ||
| Killdee | 430 | ||
| Clover | 430 | ||
| Fame | 431 | ||
| JOHN HENRY BONER | |||
| Moonrise in the Pines | 431 | ||
| The Light'ood Fire | 434 | ||
| Poe's Cottage at Fordham | 435 | ||
| WILL HENRY THOMPSON | |||
| The High Tide at Gettysburg | 437 | ||
| SAMUEL MINTURN PECK | |||
| A Southern Girl | 440 | ||
| The Grapevine Swing | 441 | ||
| Aunt Jemima's Quilt | 443 | ||
| WILLIAM HAMILTON HAYNE | |||
| A Meadow Song | 445 | ||
| When Dogwood Brightens the Groves of Spring | 447 | ||
| ROBERT BURNS WILSON | |||
| To a Crow | 448 | ||
| Ballad of the Faded Field | 448 | ||
| FRANK LEBBY STANTON | |||
| A Plantation Ditty | 450 | ||
| The Graveyard Rabbit | 450 | ||
| Answering to Roll Call | 451 | ||
| MADISON JULIUS CAWEIN | |||
| The Whippoorwill | 453 | ||
| Evening on the Farm | 454 | ||
| JOHN CHARLES McNEILL | |||
| Away Down Home | 456 | ||
| An Idyl | 458 | ||
| Barefooted | 459 | ||
| Sundown | 460 | ||
| WALTER MALONE | |||
| October in Tennessee | 461 | ||
| SURVIVALS OF OLD BRITISH BALLADS | |||
| Barbara Allen | 462 | ||
| Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor | 464 | ||
| The Hangman's Tree | 467 | ||
| The Wife of Usher's Well | 469 | ||
| George Collins | 470 | ||
| NOTES | 473 | ||
| SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOUTHERN | |||
| LITERATURE | 528 | ||
ILLUSTRATIONS
| page | |
| The Lanier Oak | Frontispiece |
| Edgar Allan Poe | 27 |
| John Pendleton Kennedy | 51 |
| Major Butler and Horseshoe Robinson | 73 |
| William Gilmore Simms | 105 |
| John Esten Cooke | 124 |
| The Raleigh Tavern in Old Williamsburg, and its Famous Apollo Room | 129 |
| Blossom and his Horse, Bullet | 152 |
| Michael St. John, the Schoolmaster, effecting an Entrance by Storm | 168 |
| Tom Edmundson as Schoolmaster | 186 |
| Francis Scott Key | 190 |
| Woodlands, the Country Estate of William Gilmore Simms | 221 |
| Poe's Room at the University of Virginia, No. 13 West Range | 226 |
| John Reuben Thompson | 248 |
| Henry Timrod | 278 |
| Francis Orray Ticknor | 296 |
| George Washington Cable | 313 |
| Joel Chandler Harris | 324 |
| Mary Noailles Murfree | 332 |
| Thomas Nelson Page | 342 |
| James Lane Allen | 349 |
| Paul Hamilton Hayne | 399 |
| Copse Hill, the Home of Paul Hamilton Hayne | 406 |
| Irwin Russell | 410 |
| Sidney Lanier | 415 |
| Poe's Cottage at Fordham | 435 |
| William Hamilton Hayne | 445 |
| Madison Julius Cawein | 452 |
| John Charles McNeill | 457 |