A Historical Journey Written in Verse
Poetic Truth, Social Injustice, and
John Brown's Provisional Army
A lyrical journey through pre-Civil War America, where the arc of justice bends through verse and the voices of John Brown's men echo across time.
About the Book
A dramatic time in the history of the United States, marked not only by turmoil, but by hope and perseverance, where diverse groups unified against the institution of slavery.
History and poetry are woven into a singular work, one that gives voice to the men and women who dared to challenge slavery in pre-Civil War America. The Yellow Marble is not merely a history book, but a testament to human courage told through lyrical verse.
Structured in three distinct parts, the book moves from the lives of everyday people before the Civil War, through the inner circle of John Brown's abolitionist mission, to the ultimate fate of those who marched with his Provisional Army.
Structure
Part One
Stories from individuals living in pre-Civil War America, ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary tensions, and the weight of a nation divided against itself.
Part Two
An intimate portrait of the abolitionists who rallied to John Brown, their convictions, their sacrifices, and the fire that drove them toward Harper's Ferry.
Part Three
The fates of those who marched with Brown's Provisional Army, documented with unflinching honesty and poetic grace in the aftermath of the raid on Harper's Ferry.
Historical Context
Location
On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his men seized the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. The raid became a catalytic moment in American history, galvanizing abolitionists and alarming slaveholders across the South in the lead-up to the Civil War.
The Man
A radical abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only path to ending slavery, Brown assembled a Provisional Army of Black and white men alike, united by a singular, dangerous dream of liberation.
The Movement
The movement to end slavery united people across racial and class lines in a fight for basic human dignity. This poetry honors their voices, giving weight to the lives and losses that shaped a nation's conscience.
The Army
Brown's Provisional Army comprised men of extraordinary courage, farmers, freed men, sons of abolitionists, who marched into history knowing the cost of their conviction. Each life is traced with care and reverence.
246 pages of a historical journey written in verse. Available in full-color softcover through Blurb Books.
Softcover · 6×9 in
