Charles Bahne
“Listen, my children!”: How Longfellow’s poem turned Paul Revere into a national hero
“Listen, my children, and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…” On the eighteenth of April in 1775, Paul Revere set out on a nighttime journey that would become legend. Eighty-five years later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stood at his desk, pencil in hand, and drafted the lines that would form that legend. Originally a clandestine mission of military intelligence, the midnight ride of Paul Revere is now one of the best-known events in American history — just as “Paul Revere’s Ride” is one of the best-loved poems of American literature. This program will examine how Longfellow came to learn about Revere’s ride, and his motivations for writing about it. We’ll look at the reaction to the poem after it was published, how it became associated with the famous Wayside Inn, and how and why it is historically inaccurate. Included will be a reading of stanzas that were edited out and never made it into print.
Charles Bahne fell in love with Boston when he came here for college. After majoring in urban studies and planning, his career has been devoted to sharing his enthusiasm for the city and its history. Bahne is well known as a local tour guide, and he regularly leads Road Scholar programs about Boston’s role in the American Revolution. He is author of The Complete Guide to Boston’s Freedom Trail and Chronicles of Old Boston, as well as articles and chapters in several other publications. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and, yes, he had to memorize “Paul Revere’s Ride” when he was a sixth-grader in the Midwest.
