Monday, April 18, 2016

today is the day ...

... we have all heard about in the poem, by William Wadsworth Longfellow.

"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..."

I knew he left Boston on the 18th of April to try to out run the British regulars. Spreading the word to the colonists that the Redcoats were on the move, attempting to confiscate weapons and gun power to avert insurrection. I did not remember that he was captured before he finished the early morning ride, and was unable to reach his goal. Longfellow apparently researched topic pretty thoroughly then adjusted the facts to suit his preferred version of the event. Poetic license, I suppose.

Yes, sorry, I've been looking at YouTube stuff. There is a really good one that is a dramatic reading, with various illustrations taken from history while you hear the man's distinctive voice telling the story. And though this is serious subject matter, a pretty amusing one filled with Muppets playing parts of the rebelling patriots, including a light-hearted song by Steve Martin, who happens to be an excellent banjo player.

No comments:

Post a Comment