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 sleeps;
And Time the ruined
bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.
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.
Spirit that made these heroes
dare
To die, or leave their children free,
Bid Time and
Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and
thee.
Ralph Waldo
Emerson
April 19,
1836
