Way back when, when I moved to Massachusetts from New Jersey, I discovered new holidays including Patriot's Day which celebrates the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Growing up in New Jersey, our grade school history lessons were locally focused—Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton, Molly Pitcher giving water to the wounded at the Battle of Monmouth, and Tempe Wick's house in Morristown. For my kids here in Massachusetts, it was all about Lexington and Concord. Once the war moved south, it moved out of the picture. I've always thought it would be interesting to attend the annual reenactment but have always been daunted by the early hour. Better to read Emerson's Concord Hymn later in the day.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those spirits dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
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