Emerson Original Hymn
Concord, 1837.

Myerson A4.1; BAL 5182. One of four known copies.
This is the "Concord Hymn," beginning "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, / Their flag to April's breeze unfurl'd, / Here, once, the embattled farmers stood, / And fired the shot heard round the world."
On the face, in a contemporary hand (Dr. Jarvis's?), "Sung by the people on the battlegound at the completion of the monument 4th July 1837." And on the reverse, "I begged this of Mrs. Brown to send to you she said 'yes and write my name on the back side with my love,' so here it is--from Mrs. Lucy Brown with her love. please to accept. Dr. Jarvis ... singing pretty good." [?another hand] "Dr. Edward Jarvis" [and] "two last verses very pretty." Dr. Jarvis published several books on public health and was for many years president of the American Statistical Association. Lucy [Jackson] Brown was Emerson's sister-in-law. The recipient is unidentified.
The final stanza, as printed here, invokes a Supreme Being, "O Thou," and "Thee," changed by Emerson in later printings to a "Spirit" antecedent of a lower-cased "thee."

RWE 17

Back to Parts Index