19 pages • 38 minutes read
Ralph Waldo EmersonConcord Hymn
Ralph Waldo EmersonFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1836A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1854)
Written on the occasion of a crushing defeat of a British platoon at the 1854 Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War, the poem examines honestly the role the incompetent British military played in the defeat. As Poet Laureate at the time, Tennyson was criticized for using occasional poetry to criticize the British government. The form, however, echoes Emerson’s in its use of tight rhythms and clean rhymes that suggest its value as a performed piece.
“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” by Walt Whitman (1865)
A lengthy elegy written in response to the national trauma of Lincoln’s assassination, this occasional poem works through Whitman’s own experience of hearing the news and then struggling to handle the implications of the senseless murder of a man he deeply admired. As an occasional poem, this can be compared to Emerson’s more impersonal tone and voice. Whitman was an advocate for Emerson’s Transcendentalism and here uses imagery of falling stars and mournful birds to suggest how nature itself is grieving.
“Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander (2009)
Written and performed by the poet on the occasion of the first inauguration of Barack Obama, the poem reflects many of Emerson’s techniques: The lines are reader-friendly and direct, and the tone is aspirational. Alexander’s poem can also be used with other poets who have also read occasional poems at presidential inaugurations: Robert Frost (John Kennedy); Maya Angelou (Bill Clinton); and Amanda Gorman (Joe Biden).
Further Literary Resources
“Huckleberry Finn and Emerson’s ‘Concord Hymn’” by Douglas Anderson (1985)
A fascinating examination of Twain’s use of the imagery and language of Emerson’s poem to satirize the farmers who take a stand in the closing chapters of Huckleberry Finn. Anderson uses the two radically different tones—Emerson’s gravitas and Twain’s smirking satire—to explore Gilded Age literature when Twain’s snarky generation struggled against the cultural weight of Emerson’s Transcendentalists.
“Embattled Farmers and the Shot Heard Round the World” by the National Park Service (2016)
A helpful (and handsomely illustrated) overview of the background to the battles of Concord and Lexington, the article also provides an account of the dedication ceremony and the singing of the Emerson poem. It also includes a line-by-line analysis of Emerson’s imagery and his themes about time and cultural memory.
“Emerson, American Democracy, and the ‘Progress of Culture’” by David M. Robinson (2003)
Written by one of the most widely published scholars on Transcendentalism and its impact on Gilded Age America, the article uses Emerson’s early poem about Concord to lay a foundation for his life-long investigation into how his concept of self-reliance and the intuitive power of each person to grasp moral rightness echoes critical elements of the American political experiment in democracy.
Listen to Poem
This is a 2004 recording by the church choir of the Unitarian Church in Concord—it is a lavish production set to the tune of the Protestant “Old 100th” hymn as it was originally performed at the dedication ceremony. The dynamics of the choir capture the emotional argument of the poem, climaxing in its hushed and nuanced delivery of the closing stanza.
This recording was made as part of the Library of Congress Favorite Poem Project, begun in 1997 by then Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, in which civic leaders as well as educators, athletes, actors, and artists were invited to recite their favorite poem. President Bill Clinton recites “Concord Hymn”—and, although he ignores Emerson’s enjambment and pauses at the end of lines that are without end punctuation, the simple and direct recitation—Clinton maintains eye contact throughout the delivery—lends Emerson’s poem an appropriate gravitas.
Unlock all 19 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,100+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
