“Concord Hymn” Summary

“Concord Hymn” Themes

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  Heroism and Remembrance

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  Time and Nature

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Concord Hymn”

• Lines 1-4

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  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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“Concord Hymn” Symbols

• 

  The River

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• 

  The Monument

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“Concord Hymn” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“Concord Hymn” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Rude
• Arched
• Unfurled
• Embattled
• Foe
• Seaward
• Votive
• Deed
• Redeem
• Sires
• Bid
• Shaft

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Concord Hymn”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Concord Hymn” Speaker

“Concord Hymn” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Concord Hymn”

More “Concord Hymn” Resources

• External Resources

  • Emerson's Essays — Read a collection of Emerson's writing which lays out some of his key Transcendentalist ideas.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to the poem set to music, as it might have been sung on the day of the monument's dedication.

  • The Monument Today — Take a virtual tour of the site of the battle—and the monument, which still stands!

  • The American Revolution — Learn more about the background to the Battle of Concord and the American Revolutionary War. 

  • Emerson's Life and Work — Learn more about Emerson's poetry and biography at the Poetry Foundation.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • The Rhodora