Colonel Preston:

“So perish all such enemies of Virginia, All such enemies of the Union, All such foes of the human race.”

John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave. He will not come again with foolish pikes And a pack of desperate boys to shadow the sun. He has gone back North. The slaves have forgotten his eyes. John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave. John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave. Already the corpse is changed, under the stone, The strong flesh rotten, the bones dropping away. Cotton will grow next year, in spite of the skull. Slaves will be slaves next year, in spite of the bones. Nothing is changed, John Brown, nothing is changed.

“ There is a song in my bones. There is a song In my white bones. ”