“The Concord Hymn”: Sung at the completion of The
Concord Monument
Edited by Sarah
Truitt
For ENGL 2130 American Major
Authors
Dr. Kevin O’Donnell, Instructor
February 28, 2005
The Concord Hymn, by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1830-1886)
1 By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
2 Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
3 Here once the embattled farmers stood,
4 And fired the shot heard round the world.
5 The foe long since in silence slept;
6 Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
7 And time the ruined bridge has swept
8 Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
9 On this green bank, by this soft stream,
10 We set to –day a votive stone;
11 That memory may their deeds redeem,
12 When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
13 Spirit, that made those heroes dare
14 To die, or leave their children free,
15 Bid Time and Nature gently spare
16 The shaft we raise to them and thee.
(July 4, 1837)
Emerson’s Conversion:
This poem was written to dedicate the Revolutionary battle monument raised at Concord Massachusetts, on land which was given by Emerson’s step-grandfather Ezra Ripley (Gale 163). It shows an Emersonian Conversion style. Emerson says in “Merlin,” “Justice is the rhyme of things which keeps truth undecayed.” He also uses these same elements in this poem such as—in the setting, actors and time. The river and land, soft stream and the stone shaft, the conqueror and the foe, the deed and the memory, the sires and their sons, the battlefield and the wide round world, the stream and the sea, the heroes and children, Time and Nature. Emerson shows the then and now concepts for example in when the rude bridge becomes in line seven a ruined bridge. Emerson shows conversion practically in every line (Porter 105).
Emerson moves from past to present and he looks far into the future when he exhorts the heroic spirit which inspired the minutemen to “Bid Time and Nature gently spare the shaft we raise to them and thee” (Gale 164).
A term that may not be easily understood is “votive”. It has two meanings closely related.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=votive)
So that means the “votive stone”
is the monument that was given to commemorate the bravery of the minutemen who
fought the British at Concord in 1775. (Gale 163-164).
Annotated Bibliography:
Primary Text
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “The Concord Hymn”. The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo
Emerson-Volume IX. Ed. E.W.
Emerson. Sully and Kleinteich: New York, 1904:139
** This volume of Emerson’s poetry includes pieces in Poems
and May-Day of former editions. Also it includes pieces never published
before.
** The online text which this was copied from was compared for
accuracy against this volume of Emerson’s poetry. The only difference is the
date it was written. The online version says April 19, 1836, but I have two
sources that say July 4, 1837.
** It was first published in book form in Poems, 1847.
** I would also like to add that I originally heard this poem
in Fifth grade while doing a huge poetry project. And that was the main reason
behind choosing this poem to edit.
Secondary Text
Gale, Robert L. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism. Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.: Woodbury, 1966: (163-164).
** This book provided an easier understanding of the poem. It
did not go into as much detail as my other text, but it did give me some
interesting facts.
Porter, David. Emerson and Literary Change. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1978:(105)
** I really liked this book. It gave me the most facts and
information of the poem and Emerson’s way of writing. It has in depth analysis
of many Emerson poems and I would definitely recommend it to anyone studying
his poetry.
Online Text
“The Concord Hymn.” AmericanPoems.com
added February 21, 2003. February 27th, 2005
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/emerson/7167.
** “The Concord Hymn” was copied from this website. It has
numerous poems from a variety of poets. It has a discussion forum for people to
post questions on any topic. It just had a questionable date that it was
written, so I changed that because I have two texts that argue otherwise.
Editor’s Note:
This poem was edited and
analyzed by an undergraduate student at East Tennessee State University for an
American Literature class project.