86

When will the War be Over?, a broadsheet poem to promote a soldier's home in Houston.

Houston, TX, 1 November 1863
2 pages, 12¾ x 3 inches, on one sheet; worn, 1-inch closed tear under title, dampstaining. 

  • Notes: Over the course of 13 verses, a variety of brave Confederates and cowardly enemies wonder when the war will end. The answer appears in the penultimate verse: "The heart of each Southron has answered--when our freedom is won, or all die. . . . It ends when Confederates are free!"

    The 7th verse discusses a profiteering "Shylock" who worries that after the war ends, he will need to "retire to a more congenial clime." A short footnote reads "To Satan's kingdom, suggests a friend at our elbow."

    On verso appears promotional text for a proposed "Soldiers' Home in the City of Houston . . . a Free Eating and Lodging House" which would serve the many soldiers traveling through the city who would otherwise find themselves sleeping on the sidewalks for lack of funds. It announces: "Subscriptions Received at Allen's Book Store."


    We trace no other examples of this Texas songsheet in OCLC or at auction.  The song's text (without the footnote) was published in 1874 in "Allan's Lone Star Ballads: A Collection of Southern Patriotic Songs, Made During Confederate Times." 
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