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The Importance of Remembering History

The speaker of Longfellow’s poem clearly fears that the story of Paul Revere’s midnight ride will be lost to historical memory. They indicate as much at the end of the opening stanza, where they declare, “Hardly a man is now alive / Who remembers that famous day and year” (lines 4–5). The speaker’s tone here seems almost anguished, as if it pains them to think that this event, so crucial to the story of the American Revolutionary War, should have been forgotten by average citizens. To address this problem of forgetting, the speaker offers a sustained narrative account of the ride Revere took to warn his fellow patriots that the British were soon to arrive by sea. The speaker returns to the theme of history’s importance at the poem’s end. After briefly recapping the story just recounted, they meditate on how a quasi-occult “night-wind” is necessary to reawaken the people to their “Past” (lines 125–30):

     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-beats of that steed,
     And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Here, the “night-wind” seems to represent the force of History itself, sweeping from the past to the present to remind us of what was actually required to take the crucial first step in the fight for American independence. Remembering this history is vital, because it reminds us that freedom isn’t given, but won.

Minor Acts Can Have Major Consequences

One of the central messages of “Paul Revere’s Ride” is that minor acts can have major consequences. From a certain perspective, the midnight ride Revere took in April 1775 was not quite the stuff of legends. He was not in any immediate danger that night, and as such he didn’t engage in the kind of heroic combat that’s usually required to earn a historical figure this kind of laudatory poetic treatment. On the surface, all Revere did was deliver a message of warning. But as the speaker is keen to relay, that message made all the difference. By warning his fellow patriots of the impending British invasion, he enabled them to prepare for what the historic battles at Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. From this perspective, Revere’s midnight ride, though a minor act in itself, ultimately helped make it possible for the U.S. to declare independence from British colonial rule. The speaker captures this theme most explicitly at the poem’s climax, when the hoof of Revere’s horse scrapes against a cobblestone and produces a spark. This spark, though small, effectively “kindled the land into flame with its heat” (line 80).

The Revolutionary Spirit of Freedom

Standing in the background of “Paul Revere’s Ride” is a more abstract and less explicitly explored theme relating to the revolutionary spirit of freedom. The entire reason the speaker feels compelled to relate the story of Paul Revere is that his midnight ride marks the inauguration of the American Revolutionary War. At the time, the United States didn’t exist as an independent nation. Instead, the thirteen colonies that constituted the American settlement remained under British control. As the colonies became more established and fully populated, their needs and desires began to diverge from their colonial overseers. In response, however, the British attempted to exert more control over their increasingly wayward colonies. The frustration with what came to be seen as oppressive rule by a “foreign” power rose to a boiling point and led to the American Revolutionary War. If the speaker of Longfellow’s poem is so keen to remind their audience of Paul Revere’s ride, it’s because this event marks a crux in the story of America’s fight for independence. Remembering this event is crucial from a historical perspective, precisely because it helps galvanize readers around the ideal of freedom.

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