CONCORD HYMN
(1837)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Sung
at the completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837)
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.
The foe long
since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the
ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward
creeps.
On
this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory
may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are
gone.
Spirit,
that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children
free,
Bid Time and
Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.