Lincoln's Verses About His Old Home

[Gene C]

Only a part of the poem above was posted, below is a link for the full poem. It's bittersweet.

"He made Matthew Gentry the subject of Part II, telling Johnston: "He is three years older than I, and when we were boys we went to school together. He was rather a bright lad, and the son of the rich man of our poor neighborhood. At the age of nineteen he unaccountably became furiously mad, from which condition he gradually settled down into harmless insanity. When, as I told you in my other letter I visited my old home in the fall of 1844, I found him still lingering in this wretched condition. In my poetizing mood I could not forget the impression his case made upon me." (Abraham Lincoln Online)

It appears Matthew Gentry tried to harm himself, then turned on his father and mother, and had to be physically restrained. The incident made a lasting impression on Abraham.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/...write.html