{i}

THE

POETRY OF SOUTH AFRICA.


{ii}Ballantyne Press
BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
 
 

{iii} 

THE   POETRY
OF
S O U T H   A F R I C A

COLLECTED AND ARRANGED

BY

A. WILMOT


LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON
CAPE TOWN
J. C. JUTA & CO.
1887

{iv}

{v}

PREFACE.

THIS collection of verse has been made from various sources in the CapeColony, Natal, and the Transvaal, and it is a matter of regret that manypieces of interest have been omitted owing to the difficulty ofobtaining copies. Also as most colonists in South Africa understand theDutch language “as spoken there,” it could be wished that certainwell-known productions in the “Boerentaal” could have been preserved inthese pages. Some of the inimitable “versions” of Reitz,—for instance,his rendering of “Tam o’ Shanter” and “The Maid of Athens,” and someothers which have appeared from time to time, we believe, in one of theCape journals, ought not to be forgotten.

We have received from Natal, since this volume was “in the press,” somelines by the late T. Fannin, who used in the olden days to sing his ownrhymes in right{vi} good style. We do not apologise to our readers forgiving these in their entirety.

“THE SMOUSE.”