Melville, Herman(1819-1891) An American author who used his experiences
at sea as the basis for his writings. Melville received little literary
attention during his career, and it was not until thirty years after his
death that he began to be recognized as one of America's greatest writers.
In the Prison Pen (1864)
Melville's moving poem in five four-line stanzas about an
imprisoned man whose life ebbs away in a world of hunger and
hallucination. The poem begins: "Listless he eyes the palisades
And sentries in the glare..."
