'Paul Revere’s Ride,' by Longfellow: "On the 18th of April in Seventy Five ... "

poets.org ^ | 1860 | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

No, that is the site of the Old North Bridge. The picture is from the western side of the Concord River, where the Minutemen assembled. The Red Coats were on the opposite side. The bridge has been rebuilt a couple of times. The Concord River is subject to flooding in spring, and can rise almost to top of the road level. This is the site of the first shots fired by the colonials on the British. In Lexington, the Red Coats shot colonials who were dispersing, after being ordered to do so by the greatly larger regular force.

Revere was arrested outside of Lexington and never got as far as Concord. He, and a second messenger, Dr. William Dawes, who had arrived at Lexington by different route, met up with Dr. Samuel Prescott, who was returning from a night of courting. Dawes and Revere were detained by the Red Coats, but Prescott bolted on horseback and alerted Concord. From there the word fanned out. Minutemen from as far away as Marlborough eventually joined in the fight before the regulars got back to Boston.

[poconopundit]

Thanks, Beowulf, HL27,

I originally intended to just post the poem, but then I had the idea of putting a Concord rifleman there, and then to inserting Mike Cernovich. In memes, I usually start with an an idea and then allow the pictures I find to take me in the direction that seems best.

[sanjuanbob]

Heart warming..thank you.

[poconopundit]

It really is a perfect poem.

I’ve long thought the use of the word “shaft” is artful because it can mean multiple things:

Shaft could also signify a spear or military force.
The dead soldiers lie in a shaft in the ground. And the shaft monument on top could be seen as a gravestone.
And the Spirit may be a shaft of light from heaven.

Emerson was constantly writing poetic prose. That’s what his Essays are all about. But he published relatively few poems, per se. But among the few he did write, there are some masterpieces.

[rlmorel]

Poconopundit, I want to thank you for pinging me on these things. I do enjoy your threads and posts.

This one is near and dear to my heart-I am a history buff, and I live right in the middle of this area. When I go to the North Bridge, I can just feel the history in the ground beneath my feet.

I live about six miles from here, and I drive by this on my way to work. I don't even think of it most of the time. A couple of years ago, I was driving that way on the morning that a big computer system I had been working to install for two years was going live.

I had been up until about 0300, and decided to drive home and get some good sleep and drive back in around 0900, because I would likely be there for the next 24 hours.

So, on the last day of a bitter cold and blustery February, I was driving down that road past the bridge, and there were no cars anywhere. When I went to cross the Concord River, just past the bridge, the road was closed for some reason. I banged a u-turn in the parking for the national site. As I turned the car, I suddenly realized where I was, and how beautiful it was there.

I shut off the car and walked across the road towards the bridge, with the wind blowing the grit and sand in my face, and the thin covers of frozen snow from an old storm trying vainly not to give it up. I recall it was about 10 degrees without wind-chill.

My eyes were watering, and my face, even in that short time was getting that odd feeling of being frozen and inflamed at the same time.

It was beautiful. Not another human in sight, a bright and cold morning sun bathing the bitter cold in a yellow tone.

And when I saw the bridge, I had this sudden pang of history, and for a split second I could imagine that famous moment in history. It came and went so fast, in the blink of an eye. It is like when you smell something like apple pie or diesel fumes and are transported to some other place and time for a single heartbeat, but...you feel it and it is real.

I felt the history of that spot. I had to take that picture, and I loved the way it came out. My wife painted it for me from that image.

[poconopundit]

Thanks, rlmorel. A beautiful and personal story at the North Bridge. Well done.

[rlmorel]

It really is a beautiful place. When you go there at this time of year, you can imagine how it was, except for one thing-

There were very few trees around then. In that picture I posted, you would have been able to see in every direction!

[rlmorel]

Love that statue...love it. The pose, the gun...:)

[poconopundit]

Interesting. So a much wider field of fire. Didn’t know that. I used to live in Sudbury, MA. The zip code was pretty cool: 01776.

Somebody pulled some connections to get that. I had an office on Boston Post Road for 6 years.

[rlmorel]

I always liked that they had that Zip code...:)

[SunkenCiv]

• Rodney: What's your favorite subject?
• Bombshell: Poetry.
• Rodney: Really? Maybe you can help me straighten out my Longfellow.

[Beowulf9]

As I posted the pictures I added the poem to some of them and found I was deeply moved, actually to tears. Really was a beautiful poem about a beautiful thing done.

[poconopundit]

Beautiful, Beowulf.  Something about this poem causes the heart to glow.   We feel the warmth of pride and thank our lucky stars to have inherited from such heroes -- common men who gave the last full measure of devotion.

[V K Lee]

American history is just about impossible to study without being moved to tears.

The Star Spangled Banner: moves me to tears.
America The Beautiful: moves me to tears.

Remembering the sacrifices of our ancestors and the conflicts they overcame: moves me to tears.

To this day, remember watching a historical movies as a child in early teen years. When the film ended, crying like a baby and unable to speak, unable to answer parents question as to why the tears could not cease.

WaterWorks Inc. signing off.