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Daniel Chester French completed this
commemorative statue for the centennial of the American Revolution.
The project was funded by a
Concord resident who wished to
mark the spot where Americans fell.
Minute Man was cast using bronze
from a decommissioned Civil War
cannon. Emerson, a member of the
committee that requested the work,
praised the statue at its unveiling.
Guide students to notice the position
of the soldier’s feet and the plow on
which his hand rests. Then, ask these
questions:
Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837
By the rude1 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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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 votive2 stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
1. What is the significance of the
minuteman’s firm grip on the
plow?
Answer: It symbolizes that he
is a peaceful farmer who took
up a rifle because his land and
freedom were threatened.
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.
1. rude (rØd) adj. crude or rough in form or workmanship.
2. votive (vòt« iv) adj. dedicated in fulfillment of a vow or pledge.
Humanities
Minute Man, 1871–1875, by Daniel
Chester French
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Critical Reading
1. Respond: What do you think of war monuments? Explain.
2. (a) Recall: What event took place by the “rude bridge”?
(b) Interpret: What does the poet mean by the image of “the shot
heard round the world”?
3. (a) Recall: What has happened to the bridge since the battle that took
place there? (b) Analyze: How does the poem’s organization reflect
a sense of the passage of time?
4. (a) Recall: In the last stanza, whom does the poet address directly?
(b) Infer: In what way does this direct address reflect Transcendentalist
beliefs in an Over-Soul?
5. Apply: Which aspects of “Concord Hymn” would be appropriate for
the dedication of other war monuments?
Critical Viewing
In 1875, the first verse of
“Concord Hymn” was
carved into the base of this
statue commemorating
the Minutemen who
fought the British in
Lexington and Concord
on April 19, 1775. What
aspects of the sculpture
communicate the
emotions of the poem?
[Connect]
2. Why do you think the minuteman’s foot is in a raised position?
Answer: It shows that the soldier
is ready to fight.
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Critical Viewing
Answer: Students should note that,
like the poem, the statue captures
the courage and devotion of the
minutemen.
Answers
For: More about Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Visit: www.PHSchool.com
Web Code: ere-9311
Concord Hymn ■ 395
Strategy for
Special Needs Students
Strategy for
Less Proficient Readers
Strategy for
English Learners
Work with students stanza by
stanza to paraphrase the lines
in the poem. Pause after each
stanza to invite questions and
suggestions about paraphrasing. Continue until all four
stanzas have been paraphrased. Then, help students
read the complete selection.
Have students read aloud the
final stanza of the poem. Help
them paraphrase the wish that
Emerson expresses in this
stanza. Point out that he asks
the same Creator or Spirit who
inspired the bravery of the
minutemen to command time
and nature to spare the monument from the ravages of time
and the elements.
Direct students’ attention to
words such as rude. Remind
students that words can have
multiple meanings. In this
case, Emerson has used an
uncommon meaning for rude.
Point out the definition in
footnote #1: crude or rough in
form or workmanship. Then
help students paraphrase the
first line. (By a simple bridge
over a creek.)
1. Possible response: It is important to honor those who die
defending their countries.
2. (a) Americans fell to British guns.
(b) It heralded the founding of a
new nation.
3. (a) It has fallen apart. (b) It
acknowledges that the events are
long past but that people today
still revere them.
4. (a) He addresses a “Spirit.”
(b) It assumes that this spirit
created the brave and nonconforming indivduals who fought at
Concord and Lexington.
5. Possible response: The idea
that we should honor those who
have died for freedom could fit on
any war memorial.
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Literary Analysis
Transcendentalism
• Read aloud the bracketed passage.
Point out that Emerson describes
nature’s impact on the human
experience.
• Ask students this Literary
Analysis question: How does
Emerson’s description of the storm
and the snowbound people reflect
his Transcendentalist beliefs?
Possible answer: It suggests
that nature––which here keeps
everyone inside––illuminates
human experience by providing
a moment of peace within the
storm.
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396 ■ A Growing Nation (1800–1870)
New England Weather
Based on Emerson’s description of this snowstorm, it probably qualified as a blizzard. Today,
the National Weather Service defines a blizzard
as any storm containing strong winds and large
amounts of snow. Winds must be blowing
steadily at more than thirty-five miles per hour
while visibility must be reduced to one-quarter
mile over a period of at least three hours.
While some may argue that New England’s
weather has changed in the years since
Emerson wrote “The Snowstorm,” the region
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still has plenty of snowy days and even a few
blizzards. For example, the city of Boston has
received an average of forty-two inches of snow
each year since records have been kept. Other
places in New England get significantly more
snow, such as Caribou, Maine, which received
more than one hundred inches of snow in
1998. About ten of those inches fell in one day
during a late January storm.