Poem Written by an American Prisoner of the British at Melville Island During the War of 1812. de Manuscript

Folio journal, pre-printed and accomplished in manuscript.

Melville Prison, on an island in Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, was used to house prisoners captured by the British in the War of 1812. This is an original, unpublished, manuscript poem written in rhymed couplets, composed by William Payne Jr. of Philadelphia. It is written in the back of a log book that was used to record the progress of an 1812 voyage aboard the brig General Eaton from Philadelphia, to Lisbon, and then to Brazil. Presumably this log was the only paper available to Payne. The "Melville Prison" poem, in 35 stanzas of 10 to 12 lines each, takes up 18 pages at the end of the book. It is intelligent, highly descriptive, and literate (Payne mentions William Hogarth and Samuel Butler.) Following the final stanza of the poem (which is written in ink) is a pencil note that reads, in part, "Taken in the schooner Idalia on the 18th of December 1814 by the Narcissus Frigate Capt. John Richd. Lumley after a chase of 12 hours." The poem graphically details living conditions for prisoners and terms of their imprisonment - (French, American and Negro prisoners were segregated into separate populations), the poor food (occasioning Payne's fantasy of a banquet), the harsh conditions and high rates of illness and death, and the hope of freedom and a return home. In fact, the war ended a few months after Payne's capture, though how long it took him to be released and find his way home is lost in the mists of time. One of the most interesting aspects of the poem is Payne's reference to negro prisoners, of whom there were a sufficient number to form their own group of prisoners. What were African Americans doing in the War of 1812? This is an original manuscript, and I can find no record of copies in any institution.