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Letter to Editor
October 12, 1940
The Key West Citizen
Key West, Monroe County, Florida
What is this article about?
Red Bay Billy writes to the editor of The Citizen, offering a poem consoling Karl von Cosel, imprisoned for preserving his deceased beloved's body through unconventional means, dated October 9, 1940, from Miami, Florida.
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Full Text
WRITES POEM FOR
VON COSEL
Editor, The Citizen:
Karl von Cosel is reputedly a poet. Will you please convey to him the poetic consolations of a kindred though uncouth and exceedingly crude fellow poet. If he desires "it" can be published under the non de plume of Red Bay Billy.
RED BAY BILLY.
Miami, Fla.,
October 9, 1940.
The poem referred to in the above communication follows:
TO ME SHE IS NOT DEAD,
SHE BUT SLEEPETH
Love dieth not, though breath of life
From body shall depart.
And death's inevit'ble beckoning call
Doth still the beating heart.
Ave, I was't lonely for thou.
Though thou was't wafted hence,
And could'st thy body near me lie
T'would be slight recompense.
Thus, in the silence of the night,
No thought of men's laws breaking,
I bore thee gently homeward
To still my sad heart's aching.
Thy spirit, smiling through the years
Through midnight's darkest gloom,
Did'st hover round in mystic love
And cheer my lonely room.
In life, in death, beloved the while,
And now in dastard durance vile
I lie a prisoner for thy sake
'Cause I thy deceased frame did'st take
And sought with wax, to mould to make—
Perpetuate for love's own sake—
thy smile.
Ah, yes, men's stringent law I brake;
They call me mad—for this mistake.
But o'er again love for thy sake
Ten thousand prison years I'd take.
Mock not, nor scoff, ye callous soul,
Think not me vile, a doddering ghoul,
Because for love—my love I stole,
With science sought to make her whole.
Lord this I pray, be it thy will,
Stretch forth thy hand and keep me 'till
Dark shadowy death and Jordan past,
My inseparable love I find at last.
RED BAY BILLY.
VON COSEL
Editor, The Citizen:
Karl von Cosel is reputedly a poet. Will you please convey to him the poetic consolations of a kindred though uncouth and exceedingly crude fellow poet. If he desires "it" can be published under the non de plume of Red Bay Billy.
RED BAY BILLY.
Miami, Fla.,
October 9, 1940.
The poem referred to in the above communication follows:
TO ME SHE IS NOT DEAD,
SHE BUT SLEEPETH
Love dieth not, though breath of life
From body shall depart.
And death's inevit'ble beckoning call
Doth still the beating heart.
Ave, I was't lonely for thou.
Though thou was't wafted hence,
And could'st thy body near me lie
T'would be slight recompense.
Thus, in the silence of the night,
No thought of men's laws breaking,
I bore thee gently homeward
To still my sad heart's aching.
Thy spirit, smiling through the years
Through midnight's darkest gloom,
Did'st hover round in mystic love
And cheer my lonely room.
In life, in death, beloved the while,
And now in dastard durance vile
I lie a prisoner for thy sake
'Cause I thy deceased frame did'st take
And sought with wax, to mould to make—
Perpetuate for love's own sake—
thy smile.
Ah, yes, men's stringent law I brake;
They call me mad—for this mistake.
But o'er again love for thy sake
Ten thousand prison years I'd take.
Mock not, nor scoff, ye callous soul,
Think not me vile, a doddering ghoul,
Because for love—my love I stole,
With science sought to make her whole.
Lord this I pray, be it thy will,
Stretch forth thy hand and keep me 'till
Dark shadowy death and Jordan past,
My inseparable love I find at last.
RED BAY BILLY.
What sub-type of article is it?
Poetic
Emotional
Religious
What themes does it cover?
Crime Punishment
Morality
What keywords are associated?
Karl Von Cosel
Poem Consolation
Love Death
Prison Law Breaking
Wax Preservation
Mystic Love
Religious Prayer
What entities or persons were involved?
Red Bay Billy
Editor, The Citizen
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Red Bay Billy
Recipient
Editor, The Citizen
Main Argument
offers a poem as poetic consolation to karl von cosel, a reputed poet imprisoned for actions related to his deceased beloved's body, suggesting it could be published under the pseudonym red bay billy.
Notable Details
- poem titled 'to me she is not dead, she but sleepeth'
- references bearing the body home, molding with wax to perpetuate her smile
- ends with a prayer for reunion after death