Ralph Waldo Emerson (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 that seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We place with joy a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, --
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.
Written for the dedication of the Obelisk, a battle monument commemorating the valiant efforts put forth by area citizens on April 19, 1775, Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" remains a piece of literature that rings through the hearts and minds of townsfolk and visitors alike who travel to the North Bridge battlefield today.
In 1837, the hymn was sung to the tune "Old Hundredth" during the town's 4th of July celebration. Today, the foremost recognizable stanza is inscribed on the base of Daniel Chester French's Minute Man Statue. Standing about the cultural landscape, pausing to read Emerson's famous stanza, visitors are able to reflect and possibly feel, hear and see for themselves the activity of the 19th of April.
Minute Man NHP Home Page