Paul Revere's Ride Analysis

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Do you know a lot of people? You can bet Paul Revere did, which is why in 1775 he set off to what is now called “The midnight ride of Paul Revere”. Two famous pieces of writing are based on this ride, a poem “Paul Revere’s ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a letter Paul himself wrote to Jeremy Belknap. Looking in detail at the poem and the letter, there are some differences and the poem is not as reliable of a source as the letter, but it does tell the main story, and gets some facts right. The letter was written by Paul Revere himself but the poem was written by a poet, this is not only proven by who wrote it but even the poem is in third point of view but then letter is in the first point of view, and this is proven in the following …show more content…

The fact that the poem was written so long after the actual ride just proves that any information could have been told wrong, or modified. The ride was in 1775, but the poem was written in 1860. Some of the basic details are correct but when you go more in depth and really compare it to the letter you can see many untrue statements in the poem. Even tho there are many differences the poem can relate to reality because it supports the fact that Paul Revere did not climb the church the night of the ride because in reality two days before he went to Charlestown and met Colonel Conant with whom he planned to set up the lanterns, he never climbed the tower. This is proven to us in the poem when it says “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.’” This really proves he did not climb the church tower, and told Colonel Conant to hand up the lanterns two days before. This proves that even if the poem was written way after the actual ride it still got some facts