Concord Hymn Summary

Concord Hymn Overview

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s celebrated poem “Concord Hymn” commemorates the battle of Concord, Massachusetts in the Revolutionary War. The poem enjoys an iconic position in nineteenth-century patriotic verse and signifies Emerson’s earliest acclaim as a poet. “Concord Hymn” eulogizes the revolutionary generation in the United States and memorializes their sacrifices. It also raises the themes of inter-generational memory, patriotism, and the American spirit in national mythology.