{"id":"01KG8AJJPS18S5DGKGC1BT1Z5T","cid":"bafkreigm2kvfpw2ds4b5dqcto6ngiiy5yn4io3z7trqfgtq43jv5ggj3fm","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER\n\n## Overview\n\"THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER\" is a chapter of poetry, dated June 1865, extracted from the text file [john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4). It is part of the larger [John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H) collection.\n\n## Context\nThis poem is situated within [John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H), a collection by Herman Melville, which is itself part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW). Chronologically within the collection, it follows the chapter \"AURORA BOREALIS\" and precedes \"FORMERLY A SLAVE\". The poem's date, June 1865, places it shortly after the end of the American Civil War, a period reflected in its themes.\n\n## Contents\nThe poem describes the experience of a former Confederate soldier, recently released from prison, as he observes the post-war landscape and reflects on his past. It contrasts his disarmed, \"jail-worn\" state with the triumphant return of Union soldiers. The narrative touches upon the loss of his home and brothers, and his lingering presence in the \"City of the Foe,\" evoking a sense of displacement and profound change. The poem also references Confederate figures such as Hill, Ashby, and Stuart.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:13.883Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER","end_line":3237,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:32.310Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER","source_file":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","start_line":3179,"text":"THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER\r\n\r\n\r\nJune, 1865\r\n\r\n\r\nArmies he’s seen—the herds of war,\r\n    But never such swarms of men\r\nAs now in the Nineveh of the North—\r\n    How mad the Rebellion then!\r\n\r\nAnd yet but dimly he divines\r\n    The depth of that deceit,\r\nAnd superstitution of vast pride\r\n    Humbled to such defeat.\r\n\r\nSeductive shone the Chiefs in arms—\r\n    His steel the nearest magnet drew;\r\nWreathed with its kind, the Gulf-weed drives—\r\n    ’Tis Nature’s wrong they rue.\r\n\r\nHis face is hidden in his beard,\r\n    But his heart peers out at eye—\r\nAnd such a heart! like a mountain-pool\r\n    Where no man passes by.\r\n\r\nHe thinks of Hill—a brave soul gone;\r\n    And Ashby dead in pale disdain;\r\nAnd Stuart with the Rupert-plume,\r\n    Whose blue eye never shall laugh again.\r\n\r\nHe hears the drum; he sees our boys\r\nFrom his wasted fields return;\r\nLadies feast them on strawberries,\r\n    And even to kiss them yearn.\r\n\r\nHe marks them bronzed, in soldier-trim,\r\n    The rifle proudly borne;\r\nThey bear it for an heirloom home,\r\n    And he—disarmed—jail-worn.\r\n\r\nHome, home—his heart is full of it;\r\n    But home he never shall see,\r\nEven should he stand upon the spot:\r\n    ’Tis gone!—where his brothers be.\r\n\r\nThe cypress-moss from tree to tree\r\n    Hangs in his Southern land;\r\nAs weird, from thought to thought of his\r\n    Run memories hand in hand.\r\n\r\nAnd so he lingers—lingers on\r\n    In the City of the Foe—\r\nHis cousins and his countrymen\r\n    Who see him listless go.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"THE RELEASED REBEL PRISONER"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H","peer_type":"poetry_collection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJJPJS7YP5MS1RA9RV0J4","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJJPS1T3Z35H3SXQGTJMN","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:36.153Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.134Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}