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 heroes dare To die or leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee. * * * * * THE RHODORA. IN May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, To please the desert and the sluggish brook; The purple petals fallen in the pool Made the black waters with their beauty gay; Young RAPHAEL might covet such a school; The lively show beguiled me from my way. Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why This charm is wasted on the marsh and sky, Dear tell them, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for being. Why, thou wert there, O, rival of the rose! I never thought to ask, I never knew, But in my simple ignorance suppose The selfsame Power that brought me there, brought you. * * * * * THE TRUE HERO. AN EXTRACT FROM “VOLUNTARIES.” The following story is told of the manner in which the poem, “Voluntaries,” obtained its title. In 1863, Mr. Emerson came to Boston and took a room in the Parker House, bringing with him the unfinished sketch of a few verses which he wished Mr. Fields, his publisher, to hear. He drew a small table to the centre of the room and read aloud the lines he proposed giving to the press. They were written on separate slips of paper which were flying loosely about the room. (Mr. Emerson frequently wrote in such independent paragraphs, that many of his poems and essays might be rearranged without doing them serious violence.) The question arose as to title of the verses read, when Mr. Fields suggested ♦“Voluntaries,” which was cordially accepted by Mr. Emerson.