Today marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In simple tribute, here is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s simple tribute, “Concord Hymn”:

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 today 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.

…

(I probably should have thought to post Longfellow’s poem about Paul Revere’s ride yesterday, but such is life.)