One if by land...

 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year…” and thus begins one of the most famous poems in our nation’s history, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (1807-1882)

Last Friday night at 5:00, with two lanterns lit, I read that famous poem on the steps of our old courthouse…as if it were the Old North Church in Boston to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of that famous ride. The audience was few…just Sarah Adams and her family. It didn’t matter how many came; it was still an honor for me to stand boldly to read those famous words in the poem. However (yes, indeed, there is a however), as much as I love Longfellow’s poem, there are a few discrepancies as to our history according to Longfellow so let’s take a look back 250 years to the beginning.

There is much American history to discuss in a short column so let’s just go straight to that famous night. It was Dr. Joseph Warren who instructed Paul Revere and William Dawes to take that ride to Concord. (Yes, Paul Revere was not alone in that!) Warren wanted two of them to go in case one was captured. Warren was a Harvard graduate of 1759. He became very involved in politics following the Stamp Act. He worked closely with John Hancock and Samuel Adams. To ensure safety of the new colonies, he knew the British were coming the night of the 18^th and sent two riders, Revere and Dawes. Revere was already active in the Sons of Liberty and a fine rider as was Dawes. They both left for Concord, but on that fateful night, neither one made it to Concord. Revere was captured by the British and was forced to walk back home to Lexington. Dawes fell off his horse and also made the trek back home on foot.

On their way, however, they encountered a third rider, Samuel Prescot. He was the one who successfully made it to Concord to warn the town by ringing the church bells that the British were coming. Little is known of Prescot after his famous ride, but historians believe he was part of the Sons of Liberty.

So, why did Longfellow inaccurately depict the famous ride in his poem? Historians and literary greats have asked that question for many years. First of all, the poem was written 86 years after the event. Did Longfellow just simply get the information wrong? Was that the way he actually remembered the event? Some literary folks think he wrote about Revere because his name had more rhyming capabilities. I mean, what about this: Listen my children and give some applause for the midnight ride of William Dawes? Or one of Prescot?

Other historians feel Longfellow wanted to have a folk hero from the American Revolution and Paul Revere certainly fit the bill. He was a colorful addition to Boston as a silversmith and a member of the Sons of Liberty. His obituary is long honoring his productive life with one exception: it never mentioned the famous ride.

Or was Longfellow simply focused on the idea of America and chose Revere? We will never know the answer to this, but there are a few things we do know. The famous poem was published in January,1861 in The Atlantic, just four months before the beginning of the Civil War in April. Did he see a correlation in his poem to that of the current history? Was he trying to bring the country together?

Another poem which also identifies that famous night is “Concord Hymn” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) in 1837. He was commissioned to write the poem for the town of Concord. He does not list any riders in his poem.

It is always good to know the truth. Research helps us find the answers, and yet through all my own research of that time period, I still love Longfellow’s poem. It was one of the first poems I learned as a child thanks to my dad. I also loved knowing that in our little town, on the steps of our old courthouse, I could share my love of this poem and be part of the bigger celebrations that took place Friday night in Boston. One if by land, and two if by sea; and I on the opposite shore shall be…