Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Sunshine was he
In the winter day;
And in the midsummer
Coolness and shade."
Concord Hymn

Poems (1854)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sung At The Completion Of The Battle Monument, July 4, 1837


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 which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day 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.

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Copyright ©2000 Hans von Rautenfeld

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