Sons of the South, awake! Freedom and Life! Rebels before Our fathers of yore, So, then, be ours the same, Name that he snatch'd from shame, Making it first in fame, Foremost in war. War to the hilt, To ransom the slave. Low in the grave! God save the South, God save the South, Dry the dim eyes that now Still let the light feet rove Safe through the orange grove; Still keep the land we love Safe from Thy wrath. FIDELIS From 'Said the Rose, and Other Lyrics.' A Maiden stood by a shining stream, Sing tarry, tarry; Her eye was rapt in a sweet, sweet dream, Ay, marry, marry. A suitor bold rode merrily by, "Dream on," quoth he, "you will wake one day! So my hounds shall hunt and my falcon fly. Away! Away!" A Ladye sat by a clouded stream, Sing tarry, tarry; Her heart still true to its first sweet dream, Ay, marry, marry. A Baron rode up with hawk and hound, "Well, mistress mine, do you still say nay? Come! my lance is sure and my steed is sound, Away! Away!" A Mourner knelt by a frozen stream, Sing tarry, tarry; Her hair all white with a snowy gleam, Once more to her side the Baron came With hawk in hand, though his beard was gray; But her maiden dream was still the same. Away! Away! SAID THE ROSE From 'Said the Rose, and Other Lyrics.' I am weary of the Garden, For the winter winds are sighing, But I hear my Mistress coming, She will take me to her chamber 'Spite the snows. PENINA MOÏSE [1797-1880] BARNETT A. ELZAS ENINA MOÏSE was born in Charleston on April 23, 1797. Her P father, Abraham Moïse, was an Alsatian Jew who had settled in St. Domingo and who fled with his family to Charleston during the negro insurrection of 1791. Penina had barely passed her twelfth year when her father died and she was compelled to leave school and to take her part in supporting the large and almost helpless family he left behind. Being studiously inclined, she devoted every spare moment to reading and soon possessed a well-developed mind. She manifested literary tendencies at an early age, but it was not till 1830 that her poems were printed in number. From that time, however, she wrote incessantly, mainly poetry, though numerous examples of her prose are preserved in the files of The Charleston Courier. Her pen was remarkably prolific, and while much of her writing does not rise above the level of the average feminine verse, she certainly must have possessed an extraordinary gift to be able week after week-frequently as often as three times a week-to contribute long poems on almost every conceivable subject to the columns of a single paper. These poems comprise a variety of themes "from grave to gay, from lively to severe." Many of them are "occasional" poems, being suggested by some incident in her life. The atmosphere in which Penina Moïse lived was not inspiring. Poverty, sickness, suffering, and death, which played so large a part in her personal experience, find constant expression in her writings. She literally "learned in suffering what she taught in song"; and while the keynote of resignation and faith runs through her compositions, the themes, to the general reader, are monotonously depressing. Several of her best poems were devoted to topics relating to the emancipation of her people: "The Rejection of the Jew Bill in the House of Lords" (1833), "The Jews of Damascus" (1840), "To Sir Moses Montefiore." In 1833 she published a small volume of poems, which she called 'Fancy's Sketch Book,' and also contributed to 'The Charleston Book' in 1845. Her best known work, however, which will keep her name alive, is the volume of hymns which she wrote for the use of the Congregation Beth Elohim, of which she was a member. This volume went through four |