Concord Hymn — Wikipédia

L'obélisque avec un verset du poème gravé sur sa base.

Concord Hymn est un poème de Ralph Waldo Emerson écrit en 1837 pour un monument de Concord, un obélisque commémorant la bataille de Concord en 1775 au début de la révolution américaine.

Poème[modifier | modifier le code]

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.