Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" read aloud: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | American poetry classics

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published "Paul Revere's Ride" in the "Tales of Wayside Inn" in 1863. The poem is a classic that made Paul Revere's "midnight ride" an object of great attention and American folklore.

Paul Revere rode from Boston to Charlestown to Medford to Lexington. In real life, he was captured before arriving in Concord, Massachusetts. However, Longfellow has him getting to Concord to warn the patriot continentals there that the 'British are coming!'

Paul Revere's ride occurred in April, 1775, and many consider it the opening of the American Revolution. British Redcoats would clash with the Continentals at Lexington and Concord following the ride.

The poem features the "Old North Church" in Boston, a church that still stands today.

Some famous lines from the poem include:

"One, if by land, and tow, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be"

"The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere."

This short film was produced by Jeffrey Meyer