The Poet Behind the Bars THE prisoner who has gone by the name of John Carter was released from the state penitentiary at Stillwater, Minnesota, on his twenty-fourth birthday, April 18. The young man, whose real name has been
kept secret, belongs to a good English family. He was brought up by a wealthy relative, received an excellent education, and was suddenly left unprovided for by the death of his benefactor. Another relative, a London banker, then took him into his ofiice. His artistic tastes, however, rendered him totally unfit for such employment, and he soon got into disgrace and was sent to Canada to take up farming. He wandered into the United States, and five years ago was sent to prison
work “if tempted." It is said that many magazine editors have expressed their willing ness to give him permanent employment. All of the verses he has published have expressed the feelings of a man in jail, and they testify also to his love of music. Thus in "Con Sordini," printed in the Century, the
first three stanzas speak of his memories of Chopin's Sixth Polonaise, Isolde's song from Wagner's “Tristan und Isolde," and the music in a cathedral. The poem begins:— There is but silence; yet in thought I heard The desperate chords of that wild polonaise. The sixth of Chopin's wizardry. but blurred, As o'er a battlefield a mournful haze Blots out the dying from the dead men's gaze.
for stealing $24 from a railroad station while cold and hungry. His talents soon came to the notice of the prison authorities. He contributed verses to the Mirror, the prison paper, acted as
librarian of the prison, and taught the prison inmates. Later he sent his poems to the magazines, and they were accepted by the Century, Cassel's, Harper's Weekly, the St. Louis Mirror, and other publications.
Former District Judge John W. Willis saw his verses in the Mirror and started a move ment for his release. Robert Underwood Johnson, the editor of the Century, had also become much interested in the young man. Judge Willis and a local clergyman asked that he be pardoned, but a commutation of his
The release of the poet suggests to the Boston Transcript that “there is constantly much literary and journalistic talent shut up within prison walls.” It continues:— It is certainly true that in various penitentiaries, notably those of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, some scintillant little journals give a very interesting reflection of the life within. They have their poets, their wits and their phil osophers. The only reason they are not better known is that the circulations are quite limited.
The question whether such a man is not truly useful to society, and should be dealt
with differently from other criminals, is considered by the Boston Herald, which says :—
ten year sentence to one of five years was preferred by the Pardoning Board. Mr. Johnson sent a telegram to the Board which was to the following eflect:— Comment of many newspapers and persons convinces me that public opinion will sustain your honorable body in releasing John Carter. My appeal is made not because he is a poet, but because of his manly letters, and because his youthful crime has already been grievously expiated.
Now that he is out of prison, Mr. “Carter" is not likely to write so much. He announced his intention to look for work as a pianist or clarinettist, but he would do magazine
If the poetry shows the existence of a "soul" behind the verse, if it distinctly shows that the singer has profited spiritually by his experience, if he has been made to see the meaning of punish ment-however crudely dealt out-—if he seems to have it in him now to serve his kind the better because of the mental and spiritual throes through which he has passed, why of course society at large must squarely face the fact, whether his case does not warrant that special dealing with indi viduals, which criminal science now says is the last word in just dealing with persons who have transgressed law, How any one. reading his "Ballade of Misery and Iron," or “Con Sordini," or “Lux e Tenebris," can fail to detect these desired evidences of greater worth to society in a “John Carter" released. it is diflicult to see.
