The poem, "Paul Revere's Ride", was written by a man named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was born in Portland, Main, on February 27, 1807 (Benet.25). The reason that the public likes Longfellow's work so much is because of his rhymes. There are two reasons that his poetry is so remarkable; first, he had the gift of easy rhyme. He wrote poetry with natural grace and melody. Second, Longfellow wrote on obvious themes, which appeal to all kinds of people. His work is easily understood (Auburn.online).

The poem, "Paul Revere's Ride," is about how a man named Paul Revere, who has a plan to try to help fight for the freedom of the United States. The unique thing about this poem is in the beginning of the poem, people are talking to each other. In the poem, the various guests tell each other stories, the best known of which is the landlord's thrilling tale, "Paul Revere's Ride." It begins:

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.

He said to his friend, "If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light, -

One, if by land, and two, if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm."

The well-known poem goes on to tell of Paul Revere's ride to warn the Americans of the British raid and then of the British Redcoat's defeat (Holberg.141-2). "Paul Revere's Ride" has been recognized as one of Longfellow's most popular poems ("Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.online").

One of Longfellow's best poems is "Paul Revere's Ride." This poem was published as the first poem in a book, called Tales of a Wayside Inn. This book was written in 1860. As the book was about to be finished, Longfellow's wife died. The book was close enough to being done that the first part was published in 1863. The other two parts followed in 1872 and 1873 as portions of volumes of new poems (Williams.61). This book was made up of ballads. A ballad is a narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung and, consisting of simple stanzas (Ballad.p104).

There has been the same controversy about the poem. One of the criticisms is that it does not contain all the elements of a ballad and yet it is classified as one. Reason for this is that it was not written in ballad meter, and does not use superstition or dialogue. It does tell a swiftly moving story very successfully (Williams.140). That is why some people do not believe that the poem is a ballad and others do. There is also a draw back with this poem which has to do with how the poem is presented. This draw back is that Paul Revere does not seem to have run into the slightest danger, though, if his friend in Belfry had been caught he would have been hung (Saintsbury.114). The same thing goes for Paul, if he was caught he would have been killed. There is also one more point to this story that is not historically accurate. Longfellow's narrative has been shown to be historically inaccurate, but his lively ballad has proven, despite criticisms of it, to have a lasting appeal to American patriotism (Williams.62). This last paragraph has shown, that even some of the best poems get criticism, and not everybody will like certain poems.

There are many people out there that think that "Paul Revere's Ride" is one of the best poems ever written. "Paul Revere's Ride" ranks among the best short American narrative poems ever written. Tales of A Wayside Inn is Longfellow at his most endearingly human. One senses here as in none of the other poems his famous personal charm, warmth and humor (Gioiap.188). Then you have other people saying that this poem is, and can only be, regarded as a distinguished artistic success within its genre (Pearson.490). These last couple of points have shown that this poem has some people just marveled, at how well this poem was written, along with being his best ballad ever written.

While this poem has been proven to be somewhat inaccurate in terms of history, and there is some controversy relative to it containing all the necessary elements of a ballad, it has stood the test of time. It is regarded as one of Longfellow's best works and even with some of it's literary shortfalls, reminds us all of how brave the early patriots were and how luckily we all are, to be Americans.

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