Concord Hymn

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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 that seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,

We set to-day a votive stone;

That memory may their deeds 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.

The Kite and its String

John Newton

See how yon crowds of gazing people

Admire my flight above the steeple;

How would they wonder if they knew

All that a kite like me can do!

Were I but free, I'd take a flight,

And pierce the clouds beyond their sight,

But, ah! like a poor pris'ner bound,

My string confines me near the ground...