Poetry Analysis of Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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! who made those freemen dare
To die, or leave their children free,
Bid time and nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and Thee.

In 1837, 62 years after the first official clash between British and American forces during the Revolutionary War, a stone obelisk was erected on the spot near Concord, Massachusetts, where the North Bridge stood over the Concord River, the very same spot where stoic Minutemen faced down regulars of the British Army. English troops had been dispatched from Boston, and ordered to confiscate ammunition hidden by the rebellious Colonials. From April 18 to 19, the British retreated east, back towards Boston, after encountering much stronger American resistance than they had believed possible. The English lost a few hundred men, the Americans perhaps half as many, but the lines had been drawn. Sung at the dedication of the aforementioned obelisk was a poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Concord Hymn." Although the volume of his poetry is not inconsiderable, Emerson established his reputation first and foremost as an essayist, but, as this piece demonstrates, he was a versatile and talented writer.