Getting Ready
Without computers, telephones or telegraphs how did people spread the news of battles and other events during the Revolutionary War? Besides writing newspaper stories, one of the things people did was to write poems to commemorate important leaders, places, or events. Rhymes are especially easy to remember, so many poems were written in a rhyming form.
1. Read the excerpt below from a very famous poem. The words provide such strong images that you can almost see and hear the horse and rider. What event does it commemorate?
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."
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, --
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed,
And the midnight-message of Paul Revere.
"Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1860. If you want to see the rest of the poem check it out at your local library.
2. Born in 1753 in Senegal, Africa, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped and sold at a slave auction at age 7. Sold to a prosperous Boston family, she received an education and wrote her first poem at age 13. She wrote the following poem to describe a British army captain. Her style, which is very formal compared to the way we speak today, was typical of her time.
TO CAPTAIN H--D.
Of the 65th Regiment.
SAY, Muse divine, can hostile scenes delight
The warrior's bosom in the fields of fight?
Lo! here the Christian and the hero join
With mutual grace to form the man divine.
In H--D see, with pleasure and surprise,
Where valor kindles, and where virtue lies:
Go, hero brave, still grace the post of fame,
And add new glories to thine honored name,
Still to the field, and still to virtue true:
Britannia glories in no son like you.
Activity
- Write a poem describing an important person in your life. Try including words that describe how the person looks, what their personality is like, and the important things they have done. Use your poem to tell other people why this person is important to you. Present your poem by reading it aloud to the person at a family gathering, holiday celebration, or other special occasion. Consider printing a copy of your poem on a special piece of paper and giving the copy to the person as a gift. You may even want to roll up the paper and tie it with a fancy piece of ribbon, string, or vine.
- Write a poem describing an exciting event. Perhaps you have a new brother or sister, your team won a close game, or people in your town were rescued after a bad storm. Use action words and description to tell what happened. Give the poem a title that names the event, such as "The Meeting at Canyon Ridge". Share your poem with someone who wasn't at the event.
Think More About It
Have a few people (friends, family) all write poems about the same event or person. Have everyone read their poems aloud. How are the poems the same? How are they different. Does everyone always see things the same way?
Words to know: rhyme, commemorate, excerpt, images, muse
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