The Concord Hymn

The Concord Hymn
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 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.


Explication:
This poem is a hymn for the dedication of the Obelisk, a battle monument in Concord, Massachusetts that commemorated the Battle of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), the first battle of the American Revolution. In 1837, the hymn was sung to the tune "Old Hundredth" during Concord's 4th of July celebration. The poem tells the story of the farmers who had to take up arms to fight against the enemy in a battle that would change the world. A long time has passed since that battle (even the bridge is now gone), and the great enemy is now no more. To remember those brave soldiers, a monument is set. Lastly, a prayer is made in hopes that the monument will be forever preserved, so that it can preserve the memories of past deeds.
The hymn is written as quatrains in iambic tetrameter (8 syllables per line), and has rhymes on alternating lines. The poem has many literary devices throughout. Firstly, the whole poem is an allusion to the American Revolution, and the specific battle at Concord. Next, “rude bridge” is an example of personification. The use of alliteration is present, such as in lines 5 and 6 with the “s” sound in “silence slept” and “silent sleeps”. There is also use of assonance, such as line 11’s “deeds redeem” repetition of the “ee” sound. In line 8, the author switches the order of the words “seaward” and “creeps” to fit the rhyme scheme. Lastly, the 4th stanza has an apostrophe, as the author is calling out to an invisible entity that guided the soldiers to carry out such great and selfless deeds.