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Daddynition, something I posted last December seems to fit the moment:

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.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s "Concord Hymn" was written at the request of the Battle Monument Committee. At Concord’s Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1837 it was first read, then sung as a hymn by a local choir.

I have studied Emerson’s works and believe the Concord Hymn is his finest poem. The poem exalts the patriots who fought for our freedom. Yet it also respects the English "foe" who also deserve our salute as brave warriors.

Emerson's use of the word "shaft" is very artful. It describes the monument being raised to the heavens in tribute, and yet it also suggests the shaft in the ground where the heroes are laid to rest.

If you have not yet visited this site in Concord, Massachusetts, you owe to yourself to do so. It will surely stir the heart of any FReeper.

Thank you Poco.

It is truly, a deeply touching poem. As is, the *rude bridge* and Minuteman Park. IIRC, before you cross the bridge, there are graves of some Red Coats who died in the Battle. They are memorialized by:

**They came three thousand miles and died,

To keep the past upon its throne.

Unheard beyond the ocean tide,

Their English mother made her moan**
~James Russell Lowell

Presently, I’m plowing my way through David McCullough’s “John Adams”. I love it; the details of the era are made so real.

Happens that the shaft shape is a very popular form in New England cemeteries. The Battle of Bennington [Vermont] is commemorated with a huge obelisk; you can see three states from the top.

If you pay attention while in New England almost every town has some connection to the *shot heard round the world*.

When you think of the hardships, vagaries of travel, how slow news moved. It’s a miracle anything was accomplished at all:)