John Brown's Body

American  

noun

1. a long narrative poem (1928) by Stephen Vincent Benét, about the U.S. Civil War.

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“John Brown's Body” Cultural  

1. A song of the Civil War that pays tribute to the abolitionist John Brown (see abolitionism). It begins, “John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave.”

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“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written to the tune of “John Brown's Body.”

Example Sentences

But his willingness to die to end slavery led to the first marching song of the United States Army in the Civil War: “John Brown’s Body.”

From Slate

John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave, John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave, John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave, But his soul goes marching on.

From Los Angeles Times

Starting at 9 a.m., about 3,000 black schoolchildren paraded around the race track holding roses and singing the Union song "John Brown's Body," and were followed by adults representing aid societies for freed black men and women.

From Salon

In addition to Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman, Brown’s admirers included the poet Julia Ward Howe, wife of the “Secret Six” member Samuel Gridley Howe, who took a popular folk song about Brown, “John Brown’s Body,” and turned it into “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

From New York Times

His church still sang “John Brown’s Body,” a 19th century marching song popularized by Black Union regiments during the Civil War and sung in Emancipation Day festivities and later adapted by professional choral groups of the era, like the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

From New York Times