English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 768. Concord Hymn |
| | | Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837 |
| | | Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) |
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| BY the rude bridge that arched the flood, | |
| Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, | |
| Here once the embattled farmers stood | |
| And fired the shot heard round the world. | |
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| The foe long since in silence slept; | 5 |
| Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; | |
| And Time the ruined bridge has swept | |
| Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. | |
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| On this green bank, by this soft stream, | |
| We set to-day a votive stone; | 10 |
| That memory may their deed redeem, | |
| When, like our sires, our sons are gone. | |
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| Spirit, that made those heroes dare | |
| To die, and leave their children free, | |
| Bid Time and Nature gently spare | 15 |
| The shaft we raise to them and thee. | |
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