Hymm

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 fog long since in silence slept,
Alike the conquerer 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 set today 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.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Sung at the completion of the Concord Monument, April 19, 1836