Though highly inaccurate historically, the Longfellow poem fully captures the breathless race against the English army, and the feverish patriotism that "kindled the land into flame with its heat."
‘Paul Revere’s Ride’
by David Hackett Fischer
the best book you’ll ever read about it.
Actually, Longfellow took a lot of creative liberties with this historic incident. It’s still a great poem, though.
The Midnight Ride of William Dawes
Helen F. Moore,
published in Century Magazine, 1896
I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, “My name was Dawes”
‘TIS all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear —
My name was Dawes and his Revere.
When the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!
History rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.
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, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
BTTT
The liberal media's attack on Sarah Palin caused me to learn more than what I had learned from Longfellow's poem.
The historians proved that Palin was correct and the media's attack ceased almost immediately.
The liberal media’s attack on Sarah Palin's assertion caused me to research the facts. I discovered Paul Revere's letter to Dr. Jeremy Belknap, which proved the historians and Sarah Palin were correct and the media was incorrect.
I learned Longfellow's poem as a young boy and it still moves me. Thanks for posting it.