''John Brown's Body'' (1928) is an epic American poem written by

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...

. Its title references the radical abolitionist John Brown, who raided the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virgina in October 1859. He was captured and hanged later that year. Benét's poem covers the history of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. It won the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

in 1929. It was written while Benét lived in Paris after receiving a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

in 1926. The poem was performed on Broadway in 1953 in a staged dramatic reading starring

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...

, Judith Anderson, and

Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...

, and directed by

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

. In 2015 the recorded performance was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for the recording's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy". In 2002, the poem, transformed into a play, was performed in

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is t ...

by prisoners. The 2013 documentary film ''John Brown's Body at San Quentin Prison'' recounts the story of the production of the play.

References

External links

*Benét, Stephen Vincent. 1928. ''John Brown's Body.'' Chicago: Elephant Paperback. **''Google Reader'

**''Amazon'

* Stephen B. Oates, Oates, Stephen B. 1984. ''To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown.'' Boston:

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...

. ''Google Reader''

*West Virginia Archives and Histor
John J. Miller, "'John Brown's Body' Exhumed," ''Wall Street Journal'', October 15, 2009Project Gutenberg: ''John Brown's Body'' (1928) (full text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:John Brown's Body (poem) 1928 poems Epic poems in English Pulitzer Prize for Poetry-winning works 1928 books Cultural depictions of John Brown (abolitionist) John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry