Revered

[deckardcanine]

The Longfellow poem on Paul Revere’s ride
Gave the little-known silversmith’s family pride,
But modern-day critics are apt to find fault:
The tale must be taken with handfuls of salt.

For starters, the lantern-based signal he bade
Was meant as a neighboring colonists’ aid
In case he could not leave the town to spread word.
He himself didn’t need it; he’d already heard.

He also did not cross the river alone
But was rowed by two friends, their identities known
As Joshua Bentley, a builder of boats,
And shipwright Tom Richardson; so say my notes.

The poem is loose with the times of events.
They’re in general lengthened, perhaps for suspense,
But getting to Concord took more than one night—
And Revere’s not the one who completed that flight.

Revere was the first to warn Lexington men,
But William Dawes Jr. came soon after then.
They set out for Concord together and met
Dr. Samuel Prescott, who’d round out the set.

A redcoat patrol stopped the three on their way.
Dawes and Prescott escaped, but Revere? Alas, nay.
They detained him for questions and then sent him back.
Only Prescott warned Concord about the attack.

Old Longfellow wasn’t confused on the facts.
He used license to simplify glorious acts.
At a time when the nation was starting to split,
He hoped to reduce social tensions a bit.

In that sense, he failed, for the Civil War came,
And only thereafter the poem gained fame.
Regardless, it did spawn a legend to last.
For all of its flaws, it is part of our past.