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Primary sourceBook1859 (published 1866)

The Portent

Herman Melville · 1859 (published 1866)

Herman Melville's 1859 poem describing the hanged John Brown as an ominous sign of the coming Civil War.

Melville's poem immortalizes Brown's hanging as an omen of the Civil War to come.

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Source: Wikisource

About this source

What it is

'The Portent' is a short poem written by American author Herman Melville in 1859, describing the body of a hanged man, called 'Weird John Brown,' and calling him 'the meteor of the war.' It was published later, in 1866.

Why it matters

Melville's poem treats Brown's execution as a sign of the violence to come between North and South. By calling him a 'meteor,' Melville suggests Brown was a bright, brief, and ominous event lighting up the sky before the storm of the Civil War. The poem shows how quickly Brown's death became a symbol, not just a news event, for writers of the time.

Look closer

  • What feeling does Melville create by describing the hanging body in such detail?
  • Why might Melville call Brown a 'meteor of the war' rather than simply naming the war that followed?
  • What does this poem suggest about how Northern writers viewed Brown shortly after his death?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of John Brown on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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