Poems (1847) is the first collection of verse by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American essayist and leader of transcendentalism. It includes the Concord Hymn, written for the dedication of a monument to the first battles of the American Revolution.
The essayist as poet
Emerson, famous for essays such as Nature and Self-Reliance, also wrote poetry all his life. His first collection, dated 1847, appeared in December 1846.
The poems express his ideas about nature, the soul and the divine presence in all things, in a compressed and sometimes rugged style.
The Concord Hymn
Written for the dedication of the battle monument at Concord, Massachusetts, on 4 July 1837, it was sung by the townspeople to the tune of Old Hundredth.
It celebrates the farmers who faced British troops at the North Bridge on 19 April 1775, at the start of the Revolutionary War.
Other poems
The collection also includes The Rhodora, The Humble-Bee, Each and All and The Sphinx, which opens the book.
Threnody, a lament for his five-year-old son Waldo, who died in 1842, is among the most moving.
Anecdotes
A famous phrase
The Concord Hymn's line about the shot heard round the world became a common expression for the start of the American Revolution.
A statue for the hymn
Daniel Chester French's statue of the Minute Man at Concord, unveiled in 1875, bears the first stanza of Emerson's hymn on its base.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Concord Hymn?
A poem by Emerson for the 1837 dedication of the monument to the battle of Concord.
Who was Emerson?
An American essayist, poet and philosopher, leader of the transcendentalist movement.
What is Threnody?
A lament Emerson wrote for his young son Waldo.