Concord Hymn - Definition and Overview

The "Concord Hymn" is a song written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837 for the dedication of the Obelisk, a battle monument in Concord, Massachusetts that commemorated the contributions of area citizens at the Battle of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), the first battle of the American Revolution. It is now better known as a poem.

Emerson's "Concord Hymn" remains a piece of literature that can ring through the hearts and minds of townsfolk and visitors alike who travel to the North Bridge battlefield.

In 1837, the hymn was sung to the tune "Old Hundredth" during Concord's 4th of July celebration. Today, the foremost recognizable stanza is inscribed on the base of Daniel Chester French's Minute Man Statue.

Text of the "Concord Hymn"

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.