by Scott Shaffer

Created on: July 02, 2008

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.

The Concord Hymn, which is a poem that was distributed at the time that the monument to the Concord heroes was erected, is one of those rare pieces of literature that will stand as long as the monument itself does, and maybe longer. In its stanzas lies the desire for peace and understanding after a bloody conflict for freedom, yet is symbolizes the hopes and dreams of a young America in its simplest form, as well as telling the story of why the monument was erected.

In the first stanza, the author speaks of the struggle of the Americas at the time, or rather the colonists, against the flowing tide of tyranny from Britain. In this group of lines, one through four, he speaks of the battle and how the uprising of the colonists was started with the famous line "the shot heard round the world." With those words he begins a simple yet profound story within his poem.

The second stanza speaks of the aftermath, the effect of the Revolution, and how the foe now sleeps, or in other words the war is now over. It also speaks of time as a river flowing through our lives and gives us the imagery of time passing by. This is important for the next couple of lines, it gives us a sense of finality over the war.
In the third stanza we see the dedication of the monument, and the idea of why the monument was placed in the spot it was. Also through the visualization that Emerson uses we see a desire for the monument to stand for a good long time, or as he puts it " When, like our sires, our sons are gone."

Finally, in the last stanza, we see a desire of the dedicating parties for the monument to stand against time and nature, and a prayer to the powers to be gentle to the monument. The poem is filled with symbolism and is a beautiful reminder of a battle that took place, a desire for peace, and a want to remember the past in a gentle way.

With this poem Emerson seems to set the tone for the ceremony of dedication as a somber occasion, yet as a joyous one as well. If the two emotions can be mixed Emerson has portrayed a way for the reader to allow it to happen, through remembrance and pride in the past conflict. Of course he also allows for a way for us to see that, while this was a monumentous occasion, it is not we who have power over the future, but rather nature and time. This is a very great poem of dedication and a wonderful symbolic picture of what the attitude was like in 1836.

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