While in custody in the Tower of London on 19 September (the eve of his execution), Tichborne wrote to his wife Agnes. The letter contained three stanzas of poetry that is his best known piece of work, "Tichborne's Elegy", also known by its first line "My Prime of Youth is but a Frost of Cares". The poem is a dark look at a life cut short and is a favourite of many scholars to this day. Two other poems are known by him, "To His Friend" and "The Housedove".