Note CONCORD HYMN — Chapter IV
Reading edition
Page 351. Concord Hymn. The first quatrain of this poem is inscribed on the Battle Monument at Concord. Emerson's grandfather, William Emerson, was minister at Concord in 1775, and from his pulpit strongly advocated resistance to the British. When the day of trial came, he took his place among "the embattled farmers." "Let us stand our ground," he said to the minute-men; "if we die, let us die here." The fight took place near his own house, the home afterwards of Emerson and of Hawthorne, and celebrated by the latter as "The Old Manse."