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Concord Hymn

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topics: classic

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 to-day 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.

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"SUNG AT THE COMPLETION OF THE BATTLE MONUMENT, JULY 4, 1837..."

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Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson

"SUNG AT THE COMPLETION OF THE BATTLE MONUMENT, JUL..." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. His poems—including "Brahma," "The Rhodora," and "Concord Hymn"—explore nature, self-reliance, and the oversoul.

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"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail..."

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