August in Virginia, | |
A warm brandy night in 1831, | |
Hidden in woodlands, | |
Seven slaves discussed the freedoms to be won. | |
Christ’s blood on the cornfields, | |
A benighted hand to suffocate the sun, | |
War with the Serpent: | |
Visions from The Book led a preacher to the gun. | |
"Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven | |
And all things shall be added unto you," | |
Words from the Spirit | |
To see Southampton County’s insurrection through. | |
Hoisting the window | |
The rebels burst into the sleeping master’s room. | |
Blows from their hatchets: | |
Each child’s bed a crimson, wooden tomb. | |
“Was Christ not crucified?” | |
In deadly silence the farms were sacked, | |
Alerting no free man to the next attack. | |
Sixty fell to their axes and their swords, | |
The General foretelling salvation from the Lord. | |
Recruiting warriors they freed | |
From the ranks of the flogged, | |
They rode through the bogs: | |
A cavalry of stolen steeds. | |
The wrath of the unbound, | |
The oppressors’ constant fear, | |
The screams of two hundred years, | |
Piqued the ears of the white man’s hounds. | |
Lynch mobs’ slaughters | |
Of black sons and daughters, | |
Blameless in this battle | |
Butchered as cattle. | |
The Deep South trembled at the Negro prophet’s renown | |
Vengeful militias hunted the panicked slaves down. | |
Captured near his cavern, | |
Judged in Jerusalem, | |
Turner, brimming with glory, | |
Confessed to his story. | |
Led to the gallows of Calvary | |
A killer, a martyr, grinned. | |
His deeds etched in history | |
His body hanged and skinned. |
August in Virginia, | |
A warm brandy night in 1831, | |
Hidden in woodlands, | |
Seven slaves discussed the freedoms to be won. | |
Christ' s blood on the cornfields, | |
A benighted hand to suffocate the sun, | |
War with the Serpent: | |
Visions from The Book led a preacher to the gun. | |
" Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven | |
And all things shall be added unto you," | |
Words from the Spirit | |
To see Southampton County' s insurrection through. | |
Hoisting the window | |
The rebels burst into the sleeping master' s room. | |
Blows from their hatchets: | |
Each child' s bed a crimson, wooden tomb. | |
" Was Christ not crucified?" | |
In deadly silence the farms were sacked, | |
Alerting no free man to the next attack. | |
Sixty fell to their axes and their swords, | |
The General foretelling salvation from the Lord. | |
Recruiting warriors they freed | |
From the ranks of the flogged, | |
They rode through the bogs: | |
A cavalry of stolen steeds. | |
The wrath of the unbound, | |
The oppressors' constant fear, | |
The screams of two hundred years, | |
Piqued the ears of the white man' s hounds. | |
Lynch mobs' slaughters | |
Of black sons and daughters, | |
Blameless in this battle | |
Butchered as cattle. | |
The Deep South trembled at the Negro prophet' s renown | |
Vengeful militias hunted the panicked slaves down. | |
Captured near his cavern, | |
Judged in Jerusalem, | |
Turner, brimming with glory, | |
Confessed to his story. | |
Led to the gallows of Calvary | |
A killer, a martyr, grinned. | |
His deeds etched in history | |
His body hanged and skinned. |
August in Virginia, | |
A warm brandy night in 1831, | |
Hidden in woodlands, | |
Seven slaves discussed the freedoms to be won. | |
Christ' s blood on the cornfields, | |
A benighted hand to suffocate the sun, | |
War with the Serpent: | |
Visions from The Book led a preacher to the gun. | |
" Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven | |
And all things shall be added unto you," | |
Words from the Spirit | |
To see Southampton County' s insurrection through. | |
Hoisting the window | |
The rebels burst into the sleeping master' s room. | |
Blows from their hatchets: | |
Each child' s bed a crimson, wooden tomb. | |
" Was Christ not crucified?" | |
In deadly silence the farms were sacked, | |
Alerting no free man to the next attack. | |
Sixty fell to their axes and their swords, | |
The General foretelling salvation from the Lord. | |
Recruiting warriors they freed | |
From the ranks of the flogged, | |
They rode through the bogs: | |
A cavalry of stolen steeds. | |
The wrath of the unbound, | |
The oppressors' constant fear, | |
The screams of two hundred years, | |
Piqued the ears of the white man' s hounds. | |
Lynch mobs' slaughters | |
Of black sons and daughters, | |
Blameless in this battle | |
Butchered as cattle. | |
The Deep South trembled at the Negro prophet' s renown | |
Vengeful militias hunted the panicked slaves down. | |
Captured near his cavern, | |
Judged in Jerusalem, | |
Turner, brimming with glory, | |
Confessed to his story. | |
Led to the gallows of Calvary | |
A killer, a martyr, grinned. | |
His deeds etched in history | |
His body hanged and skinned. |