Classic Poem

Come all you tender Christians, wherever you may be,
And likewise pay attention to these few lines from me.
For the murder of James A. Garfield I am condemned to die
On the thirtieth day of June upon the scaffold high.
My name is Charles Guiteau,
My name I'll ne'er deny.
I leave my aged parents
In sorrow for to die.
But little did they think,
While in my youthful bloom,
I'd be taken to the scaffold
To meet my earthly doom.

'Twas down at the station I tried to make my escape,
But Providence being against me, there proved to be no show.
They took me off to prison while in my youthful bloom
To be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.

I tried to [play off] insane but found it ne'er would do,
The people were all against me, to escape there was no clue.
Judge Cox, he read my sentence, his clerk he wrote it down,
I'd be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.

My sister came to see me, to bid a last farewell.
She threw her arm around me and wept most bitterly.
She says, “My darling brother, this day you must cruelly die
For the murder of James A. Garfield upon the scaffold high.”