The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1923-02-08
Poet SINGS TO
WORLD IN CELL
Outbursts Of Life Convict In
Pennsylvania State Prison
Win Praise of Critics.
TELLS STORY OF HIS LIFE
Verses Are Likened in Intensity, Ar
tstic Merit and Realism to Oscar
WiIde,s "BalIad of Read
ing GaoI."

ing Gaois
Philadelphia are law-break-
ers and law-breakers. There are cum
ming men who make crime deliD-
crate object and there are others who
sin impulsively under extenuating cir
cumstances. The man who is desig-
mated as ''B 1896" and is ''lifer" in
the Eastern state penitentiary here
evidently belongs to the latter class
of convicts, though it hardly seems
fair to classify him as convict after
one has learned his story. Undoubted-
ly he occupies unique niche In the
realm of criminology and is subject
for the psychologist.
The confessions of most criminals
are crude enough, but in "A Tale of a
Walled Town and Other Verses" dip
pincott company B S266 relates the
story of his interesting life in such ex-
cellent poetry that William Stanley
Braithwaite, the well-known critic,
visited the poet In prison and wrote
an enthusiastic Introduction to the
book, which is attracting the attention
of persons who know what's what in
poetry.
"A Tale of a Walled Town" like
Oscar Wilde's Ballad of Reading
Gaol,p is a poem of lyrical intensity,
artistic merit and powerful realism. 1t
is an honest confession, for she poet
does not deny his sins.
1t was only when locked in his cell
that this unusual man turned to lit
erature and writing for consolation
against terrible despair; for he had
written virtually nothing before for
print.
III Treated as Child.
Adopted when a child, he was badly
treated and was forced to run away
and work out his own salvation as
best he could at a time when other
youths have parental protection and
influence. The poet sings with sad,
haunting beauty:
st know no mothers face; nor knew
The mother love that was my due;
Yet dreamed of such the long years
through
And never did the dream come true.
held so dear
He wandered about the world rest
| less youth He found surcease in la
Dor and fell in love, but again was I'M
fortunate. The woman in the case was
of a wealthy family. and the match
was opposed. The lovers eloped and
for a year were exceedingly happy.
She, having been used TO costly clothes
and gems, sighed for them again, and
the poet, who loved not wisely but too
well, stole that she might have luxu-
ries. He was given seven years. After
serving his time he returned to his
wife, and then occurred his saddest
disappointment and his downfall
He found her receiving the atten-
lions of rich mans son. She had
forgotten her ardent husband who
had stolen to please her selfish
whimsI The poet is quite frank about
It:
/
Toll slowly!
Had coveted what / had won,
And for her feet web had spun.
| ct faced him of a winters night,
| When all the world about was white,
| AS was his face in the freight
Looking on me.
For such as he there was no prayer;
Toll SLOWLY
| I struck; and when left him there,
! His blood had crimsoned all his hair.
Here in this cell they coff1ned me:
Toll slowly
Hence dead to all save two or three.
And an abiding memory
Verses Show Originality.
The prison poet makes use of the
! refrain, 'toll slowly" frequently, and
with telling effect. It is as if the
bell is sounding the death knell of all
his hopes Not once is the reader
given a chance to forget that this
| poetic confession is a bit of real hui
| man drama.
| The other verses in the book are full
of originality and intensity, though
some are playful and clever, and
! others reveal a vivid Imagination, a
| fine sensibility and an appreciation of
nobility and beauty. ''B $780," an I'M
known convict, is a true poet who has
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