A Poem by an Ancestor
A Southern latecomer's thoughts on the Civil War
I discovered the poem below while going through some old family documents. The views expressed within are not my own, I am simply sharing this document because it provides an interesting window into history. Interestingly, the author of the poem married into the section of my family which owned a large plantation, I have her father-in-law’s cavalry sword in my office.
“Tourist - Be Yourself”
I was born in old New England
and raised up like the rest
on the fundamental concepts of
the Gettysburg Adress.
I know all men are brothers
but your ancestors and mine
made a terrible mistake to come
‘cross the Mason Dixon line.
They came to free the slaves by force
and not by education.
He is much more a slave today
for that emancipation.
He’s a slave to his own ignorance
not to a kindly master
who would have taught him as he freed,
thus giving real freedom faster.
Oh, tell me, Vermont farmer,
if you once owned a horse
and through some act of violence
your right to him was lost
and every day you worked him
you paid from out your wealth,
would you be very worried
about that horses health?
Of course all this is in the past,
you and I cannot remake
the precious things which were destroyed
by our ancestors’ mistake.
But when we go a touring
we can make a little pact
and not be quite so critical.
You know it is a fact
there is a human tendency to
“show off” when we roam,
to say some things we wouldn’t say
among the folks at home.
Human nature is the same
wherever it is found
You are as kind as Southerners
on new England ground
But after hearing tourists
I’m ashamed to open my mouth
knowing of my New England twant
and its memories of the South.
Through centuries of living here
they’ve learned to change their ways
to those best able to survive
the long hot summer days.
Those of us who’ve come to live
soon learned to slow down too.
In tropical heat you could not pursue
the things which you presume.
Come and see us yankee brother
come and see me every one
Come and enjoy the [page ripped]
Beneath our glowing sun.
But before you come and visit,
please - this once fact digest
when it comes to Southern living,
the Southerner knows best.
Written in 1941 by Marjorie [last name], from New Britain, Conn.
Based on the format at the top of each page, this poem may have been a school document of some kind.