Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Title- The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Author- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Graved and Painted by- Christopher Bing
Publisher- Handprint Books
ISBN-1929766130



     
      I have to admit that even though I am a big fan of children's literature, I am not thrilled with poetry. I find it difficult to dissect each line of a poem in order to correctly interpret its meaning. However, if a poem is about something I have a great interest in, it becomes more appealing to me. Ever since I was in elementary school, I have enjoyed learning about history. I have always been eager to learn more about time lines of wars, the life stories of important people and the reasons behind historical events. This is why The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is the poem I chose.

     The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in 1860, is an epic poem that describes Paul Revere's great journey. Longfellow uses rhythm and rhyme throughout the poem to make it appealing to all age groups. The rhyme is inconsistent, with some stanzas having each line rhyme, others have the first and third lines rhyme, while others vary from both of theses rhyming schemes. Although there is no pattern to the rhyme, it flows beautifully. Longfellow also uses the most descriptive words I have ever read to explain how Revere took his ride through Massachusetts on April 18, 1775. He told a friend to let him know if the British were coming by hanging lanterns on the top of a clock tower, "one, if by land, and two, if by sea." The poem describes how his friend learned that the British were coming by sea and how the friend went to the tower. Revere, on the other side of the river, saw the signal of two lamps and took off on his horse at twelve o'clock. He rode through the towns of Medford, Lexington and Concord to warn the sleeping farmers that the red-coats were coming to start the Revolutionary War. The last page of the poem tells how the people heard hoof beats in the night and listened to Revere's defiant cry. Longfellow also accurately explains that his midnight message will echo forever in our country's great history.

     Since The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is such a masterfully written poem, it almost seems unnecessary to have illustrations to accompany the text. But Christopher Bing's paintings are so wonderfully drawn that they enhance the poem magnificently. He shows us the ships, the colonists sneaking around to see what the British are doing, Revere's friend entering the clock tower and then Revere on his horse galloping through the countryside.  The paintings are dark as they are meant to show that this historical event occurred in the middle of the night. But even the darkest picture allows the reader to visualize the words from the poem. I particularly like the close-up of Revere on his horse with a full moon in the sky. Obviously, you cannot see a horse move in a painting. Yet in this painting you can envision how fast Revere must have been riding. Moreover, the serious expression on his face demonstrates that he believed this was the most important ride of his life. The last painting is not only beautiful but it appears to be magical. You see Revere riding in the distance past what appears to be a fence. Upon further investigation, you see the lines of the fence are actually the stripes of the American flag. The flag is also made up of stars, but Bing not only shows the stars in their current configuration, he also has 13 stars in a circle representing the colonies. To me, this signifies that historical events of the past continue to have effect on those who are alive today.

     Although I found The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere to be inspiring and well-written, it may be challenging for young children because not only is the vocabulary difficult, the words are rather outdated and not what we use in our everyday conversations. Nevertheless,  I believe that older children, probably those over the age of eight, would appreciate the poem and gain insight and knowledge of an important patriot. Longfellow must have wanted the poem to appeal to youngsters since he began it with the line "listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." And the poem certainly shows that Longfellow believed he was writing about a great hero. Longfellow's poem not only described an important historical event to contemporaries, he also gave future generations a spectacular piece of literature. I think it is wonderful that a poem written over 150 years ago can still be used to teach children about Paul Revere and inspire them to study American history.


  

1 comment:

  1. By reading your blog I can tell how much time you took on reading the book. You did a great job on describing the book. You gave such great insight of the book; it allowed me to see what the book is about. I totally agree with you that poems are difficult to explain. With poems is hard for children to understand sometimes. Therefore yes it’s very important to correctly interpret the meaning of each line to the children. For this genre it is very important not to do a read aloud cold turkey. The book you picked is very interesting to me because I never heard of history poems. History has always been my weakest and most hate subject. I think it would had made a big different if history was introduce to me using poems. I have such a great passion for poems that I hear melody when I read or write them. I can’t wait to get my hands on the book so I can brush up on my history in a way that i would enjoy.

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