Henry Mosler transcribed two sets of song lyrics in his diary. Perhaps he heard or sang Juanita during his service with the Union troops in Kentucky. It is curious that he included Juanita as it was a song popular among the Confederacy. The lyrics and music circulated in songsters, short pamphlets that contained lyrics.
Juanita: A Spanish Ballad, Historic American Sheet Music, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Copies of the Juanita songster are held in special collections at universities including University of Alabama and Duke University.
Mosler recorded the following in an undated entry in his diary:
o’er Juanita
Soft onthe
mountain
Lingering falls the Southern moon
Bright on the
fountain
Brake the day too soon.
Breaks
In
thy dark eye‘s splendor
Where the warm light loves to dwell
Weary looks yet tender
Speak thy fond farewell
Nita,
Juanita, let us never never part
Nita, Juanita, Lean thou on my heart.
II
When in thy
dreaming
Moons like this shall shine again
And day light beaming
Prove thy dreams are vain
Wilt thou not relenting
For thine absent lover sigh
In thy soul consenting
To his prayer gone by
Nita Juanita Let me linger by thy side‒
Nita Juanita be my own fair bride
Caroline Sheridan Norton authored the lyrics. Norton (1808-1877) was a British feminist, reformer, and author.
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