Summary

“Concord Hymn” begins by describing the landscape around the North Bridge, where the battle of Concord was fought on April 19th, 1775. The landscape, the poem suggests, is being revisited on the battle's sixty-first anniversary – April 19th, 1836. Emerson describes the bridge as a “rude” (1), suggesting it is but a humble structure when viewed from the contemporary vantage. Despite this it “arched the flood” of the combat itself (1), playing a historic role in the history of the nation. This was, Emerson reminds, the site where the flag of the independent army was first “unfurled” (2).

The second stanza of the poem nods to the death that the war caused. It also reflects on the passage of time and the loss of most of the generation who lived through the events related to the Revolutionary War. This image of time marching on and banishing historical moments into increasing...