Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1896 — The Story of a Poem. [ARTICLE]

The Story of a Poem.

One of the most tou-chiug poems on prison life ever written was from thepen of Colonel H. C. Parsons, a gifted lawyer a-ud railroad promoter, who died last June at his■lrom-e in Virginia. Previous to moving to Virginia Oolonal Pars-cpis defended a young man who was accused of murder. The evidence was seemingly entirely against the prisoner, but his counsel was firm in his ltellef of his innocence, and, thong-li the necessary evidence to make thu-t fact plain was not brought o-ut at the tidal, the Colt (tel succeeded in making the jury feel as he did, and a verdict for acquittal was rendered. The young man had been in jn.il for several weeks, and, after the congratulations at his release were over, his counsel asked hint: "Well, how does it fee-1 to be free?” What the young man’s answer was no one but the Aolc|iel knew, but he was inspired by it to write a very beautiful poem, wldeh was at the time of Its first publication very widely copied.