Following the conceit established by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., in "Brother Jonathan's Lament for Sister Caroline," this poem, by an anonymous author, presents the South's reply to her Northern brother's plea for re-union. Although not quite as well done poetically as its companion piece, it nevertheless lays out rather clearly the South's stance on rejoining the Union and her grievances against the Lincoln government. Chief among her complaints is Yankee hypocrisy with regard to slavery, the benefits of which the North had enjoyed for many years, even if only indirectly.
This poem was taken from Rebel Rhymes and Rhapsodies, a volume of Southern wartime poetry collected and edited by Frank Moore and published by George Putnam in 1864 to "illustrate the spirit which actuates [the Confederacy] in their rebellion against the Government and Laws of the United States."
"Farewell to Brother Jonathan"