The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Welcome, Gryphem community, to a significant date of commemoration in American history, April 18th.

In the many years I had the privilege to teach U.S. History and Literature, every single April 18th was marked by the reading of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” This poem, although not perfectly accurate in a historical sense, nevertheless captures feelings, images, emotions, a sense of wonder and significance concerning the events that triggered the American Revolution.

If you listen actively and imaginatively to this tale, you will experience the essence of poetry, startling imagery, and an important seminal event in the origins of the American nation. Allow yourself to become immersed in the story of a man, a time and a place, and a mission with significance far beyond this narrative. A few things to notice:
• The “hardly a man is now alive” comment in the first stanza. The poem was written in 1860, 85 years after the event.
• The imagery of the British ship in the harbor before the rising moon.
• The description of the churchyard as an encampment of the dead.
• The symbolism of the spark from the hoof of Paul Revere’s horse, and the metaphors of spark and rider.
• The metaphor of the buildings as spectators aghast at the violence about to be unleashed.
• The irony of the one “safe and asleep in his bed, who at the bridge would be first to fall.”
• In the last stanza, the drawing of an eternal hope from a single night’s event.

If you prefer to read the TEXT (courtesy www.eserver.org), click here.
If you prefer to hear the AUDIO (courtesy Spiders House Audio), click on the embedded content below.
In either case, the IMAGES will be in your mind.

And now - “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.



In your hour of darkness and peril and need, may you always remember with hope the heroic ride of Paul Revere.

- Gryphem