Page:Southern Life in Southern Literature.djvu/523

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THE CONFEDERATE FLAG (PAGE 272)

This poem first appeared in the Ifetropolitan Record. Nothing further is known in regard to its author or its date.

QUESTIONS, i. In what spirit is the outcome of the war accepted?

2. What may the South continue to take pride in?

LINES ox A CONFEDERATE NOTE (PAGE 273)

So much uncertainty exists regarding the author of this unique poem that it seems best not to attempt to ascribe it to an author. In the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., there is a Confederate note with a version of this poem inscribed upon the back of it and signed by Miss M. J. Turner of North Carolina. There is no proof, however, that this is the original copy. The poem is frequently as cribed to Major A. S. Jonas of Mississippi, who was a member of the staff of General Stephen D. Lee, and the following account is usually given of its composition. After being paroled Major Jonas went to Richmond to secure transportation home. At the Powhatan Hotel his company met a Miss Anna Rush, a young girl from the North. She showed them a batch of Confederate notes printed upon one side which she was taking home as souvenirs. Handing one to each officer, she requested them to write something on the back. The officers complied and this poem is said to have been Major Jonas s contribution.

ABRAM JOSEPH RYAN

THE CONQUERED BANNER (PAGE 275)

This poem was written a short time after the surrender of General Lee, but was not published until 1868, when it appeared in Father Ryan s paper, The Banner of the South.

QUESTIONS, i. What features of this poem would make it touch

the Southern heart? 2. Judged purely as poetry, should it be ranked high? 3. While the poet is intensely Southern in his feeling, is he evidencing unrelenting bitterness? 4. Is the poem despairing in re gard to the future of the South? 5. Compare this poem with "The Confederate Flag."