Public-domain ebook

The Southern war poetry of the Civil War

Name: The Southern war poetry of the Civil War
Author: Esther Parker Ellinger

by Esther Parker Ellinger

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Language: en1,085 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Poetry Thesis (Ph. D.)American poetry -- 19th century War poetry, American -- Southern States War poetry, American -- Southern States -- Bibliography American poetry -- 19th century -- Bibliography Confederate States of America -- Poetry

In: Poetry·History - American

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #69681.

About this book

This work is a scholarly dissertation by Esther Parker Ellinger, completed at the University of Pennsylvania in 1918, that surveys the poetry produced in the Confederate states during the American Civil War. The opening pages reveal a meticulous acknowledgment of the many private collectors, libraries, and mentors whose materials made the study possible, followed by a foreword that frames Southern war verse as a “force” second only to the armies themselves. The text proceeds with a detailed table of contents, then launches into a first chapter that argues for the emotional and historical significance of the poems, citing contemporary Southern writers and later critics to illustrate how the verses were both widely circulated in newspapers and largely neglected after the conflict.

Ellinger writes in a formal academic voice, employing extensive quotations and comparative cultural analysis typical of early‑20th‑century scholarship. Readers interested in Civil‑War history, American literary studies, or the cultural dynamics of the South will find the book’s blend of bibliography, contextual commentary, and critical appraisal especially rewarding.

The opening · free to read

In the assembling of material so widely scattered and so long unsought either by students or by collectors, it has been necessary for me to depend in some measure on the efforts of others who have been most generous with their help and assistance. I desire to record my gratitude especially to my Father and my Mother, without whose unfailing sympathy and co-operation this work could not have been done: and to Mrs. C. Francis Osborne of Philadelphia, Miss Sallie Shepherd of Norfolk, Virginia, and Miss Florence D. Johnston of Philadelphia, for books and individual poems. For their courtesy in allowing me free access to the collections committed to their charge I must acknowledge further indebtedness to Mr. Wallace H. Cathcart, Vice-President and Director of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, whose splendid collection of Civil War items contains many rare and important imprints and broadsides: and to Mr. Bunford Samuel, of the Ridgway Branch of the Library Company of Philadelphia, to whose private collection I am indebted for several poems which I have not found elsewhere.

Particularly to Dr. Arthur Hobson Quinn of the University of Pennsylvania, under whose direction this thesis was written, I wish to acknowledge my obligation and to express my sincere appreciation for his guidance and advice.

E. P. E.

University of Pennsylvania, 15 April, 1918.

“Time in its deeps swims like a monstrous whale: and like a whale, feeds on the littlest things--small tunes and little unskilled songs of the olden golden evenings--and anon turneth whale-like to overthrow whole ships.”

Dunsany--“The Raft Builders.”

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