In issuing this collection of Songs, the author makes the following
acknowledgments:--
"The American _Ça ira_" was suggested while reading the French song of
that name, from which song the phrase _ça ira_ alone was appropriated.
In "The Song of William the Conqueror," his characteristic oath, "By the
splendor of God!" is used.
In the "Death Song of the Enfants Perdus," a few remembered lines or
fragments have been appropriated from an anonymous and almost forgotten
English ballad.
"Burke of the Brave Brigade" was written in memory of the late Dennis F.
Burke, the last commander of the Irish Brigade in the battle of
Gettysburg.
"The Custer Wail" was composed in a dream, in 1877.
In the last two stanzas of "Marshall Ney's Farewell," his own language
translated is used in nearly half the lines. The first line of this poem
is the expression used by Napoleon, on his voyage to St. Helena, when
sighting the shore of France for the last time.
"The Lily Land of France" was suggested by the French song, "Partant
pour la Syrie," from which nothing was appropriated but the accentual
movement.
Except in the above mentioned instances, the songs here collected were
composed without finding a model or a suggestion in any other writer.
The "Soldier Songs" and the "Love Songs" are printed alternately.