‘Creative’ Retellings of Paul Revere’s Ride

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Illustrated by Christopher Bing.  Ages 4-8.  40 pgs.

Roughly 150 years ago, a poem entitled “Paul Revere’s Ride” was published by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in an edition of Boston Transcript, and a month later in Atlantic Monthly.  Today, of course, it is one of the most famous American poems and required reading for many an American lit student.  So, considering Mr. Revere was brought back into the limelight again via Sarah Palin’s bus tour, I thought it a prescient time to review the poem’s history.

I could put the facts in my own words, but I’ll be honest–my time is short, and Maine’s Historical Society is as close to non-partisan as you’ll get on this blog.  So here’s what they say:

Paul Revere was a silversmith in Boston and a devoted patriot. He was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and creator of an inflammatory illustration of what became known as the Boston Massacre. Revere was also a family man, fathering eight children with his first wife, and, after her death, eight with his second wife. After the events described in Longfellow’s poem, he served with the poet’s maternal grandfather, Peleg Wadsworth, in the failed Penobscot expedition. By 1860, he and his place in history had been largely forgotten.

The basic premise of Longfellow’s poem is historically accurate, but Paul Revere’s role is exaggerated. The most glaring inconsistencies between the poem and the historical record are that Revere was not the only rider that night, nor did he make it all the way to Concord, but was captured and then let go (without his horse) in Lexington, where he had stopped to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the impending attack.

Longfellow’s intention was not to write a history; it was to create a national hero and he was successful at doing so. During a time of great national upheaval, people seized on Paul Revere as an example of the county’s noble past. His is still a household name and today visitors to Boston can visit Revere’s house and follow in Revere’s footsteps as outlined by Longfellow as they walk along the Freedom Trail.

So, apparently, as long as you’re not a Republican politician, it’s fine to “creatively” arrange historical facts for purposes of propaganda.  (And for the record, I’m not commenting on whether I think Palin did or not…I’m just saying, we know Longfellow did, and he’s a national treasure!)  Of course, the license that Longfellow took is peanuts compared to some other early writers like Hawthorne or Washington Irving.  I have it on good authority that Irving’s story of Christopher Columbus is both false and demeaning to Christians.  But that would require another post to dig in to, as well as perhaps a post or two on the challenges and role of historical fiction.  (Hint, hint, Janie…)

Yet Longfellow is, for all the license he takes, a good poet.  A mighty good one.  And unless you are prepared to deprive your children of some of America’s best written work, you’ll probably have to deal with him in your child’s literary studies.  So, if you’re going to read The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, you might as well do it right!  And my favorite rendition happens to be the version illustrated by Christopher Bing.

Bing’s illustrations are stunning.  They are pen and ink drawings done on scratchboard to look like period drawings, yet they lack none of modern-day intensity of color or emotion.  In fact, the illustrations have a scrapbook feel that gives it the feeling of a “revolutionary war box” filled with coins and quills and period artifacts rather than a mere picture book.  And this in combination with Longfellow’s poem make a really an exquisite package.

Finally, for homeschoolers and anyone with a desire to memorize the poem, a picture book like this is not only fun and informative for a wide range of ages (and I’d say this is worthwhile for kids far older than 8)–but it’s an effective memorization aid.  The pictures give a visual image to pair with the text, and make recalling the text that much easier.  Plus, it’ll give you something unique to show off the next time folks start arguing political propaganda!

Any Longfellow lovers out there?  Or how about Sarah Palin?  Speak now or forever hold your peace!

This week launches our preparation for History Week next week.  If you’d like to get more on the inside track of what we’re writing and thinking about on this blog, please sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter in the upper-right-hand corner of the blog.  (Hint: look for the words “Free Email Subscription.”  And just for the record, we aren’t selling your email at any price to anyone.  We promise to treat your email address the way we’d like ours treated.)

For more of our history-related posts, try Christ in Literature: Old Testament Lessons, Tall-telling, and Living Like a Refugee.

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