Bars and Shadows: The Prison Poems of Ralph Chaplin

Ralph Chaplin (1887 - 1961)

Ralph Chaplin and many other prominent members of the Industrial Workers of the World were imprisoned under the Espionage Act of 1917 as the United States entered World War I. As with Socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, these activists were accused of undermining recruiting efforts and the draft - even of encouraging soldiers to desert. Though they never gained the universal popularity of his anthem "Solidarity Forever," the poems and songs in this volume - composed during his four years in prison - represent the defiant attitude of a true rebel in the face of persecution. - Summary by Ben Adams

Genre(s): Single author, Ballads

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Introduction Ben Adams
00:22:32
Play 01 Mourn Not the Dead Ben Adams
00:01:07
Play 02 Taps Ben Adams
00:01:30
Play 03 Night in the Cell House Ben Adams
00:01:23
Play 04 Prison Shadows Ben Adams
00:01:28
Play 05 Prison Reveille Ben Adams
00:01:28
Play 06 Prison Nocturne Ben Adams
00:01:23
Play 07 The Warrior Wind Ben Adams
00:02:08
Play 08 To Freedom Ben Adams
00:01:18
Play 09 The Vision Maker Ben Adams
00:01:28
Play 10 Distances Ben Adams
00:01:19
Play 11 Phantoms Ben Adams
00:00:59
Play 12 Seven Little Sparrows Ben Adams
00:00:57
Play 13 Salaam! Ben Adams
00:04:06
Play 14 The West is Dead Ben Adams
00:01:31
Play 15 Up From Your Knees Ben Adams
00:01:59
Play 16 The Eunuch Ben Adams
00:02:28
Play 17 I.W.W. Prison Song Ben Adams
00:01:55
Play 18 To France Ben Adams
00:01:30
Play 19 Villanelle Ben Adams
00:01:52
Play 20 Wesley Everest Ben Adams
00:01:34
Play 21 The Industrial Heretics Ben Adams
00:01:17
Play 22 Blood and Wine Ben Adams
00:02:27
Play 23 The Red Guard Ben Adams
00:01:15
Play 24 The Red Feast Ben Adams
00:02:59
Play 25 The Girls Who Sang for Us Ben Adams
00:01:23
Play 26 To Edith Ben Adams
00:01:10
Play 27 Song of Separation Ben Adams
00:01:13
Play 28 To My Little Son Ben Adams
00:01:20
Play 29 Escaped! Ben Adams
00:01:27
Play 30 Retrospect Ben Adams
00:01:56