Paul Revere's Ride Literary Elements

The Landlord

Rhyme, meter, and form vary

Simile:
-"Wrapped in silence so deep and still / That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, / The watchful night-wind"

Metaphor:
-The metaphor of a spark being struck and kindling the land with flame is used to suggest how quickly Revere sprung into action, and in turn how quickly the colonies responded.

Alliteration:
-"muster of men"
-"masses and moving shapes of shade"
-"hurry of hoofs"
-"and the spark struck out by that steed"
-"midnight message"

Assonance:
-"measured tread"

n/a

Poetry

The landlord speaks in 1860, but the events of the poem are April 1775

Hushed

Protagonist: Paul Revere Antagonist: The British

Whether or not Paul Revere will be able to warn the villages of the arrival of the British troops in time.

Revere sees the two lanterns in the belfry and spurs his horse to take off into the countryside.

Longfellow foreshadows the actual historical events: the fighting at Lexington and Concord, the death of colonists, the war itself, and the need for future reminders that the fate of the nation often hangs precariously on the actions of a few (in regards to the Civil War).

n/a

-British regulars were the troops that fought against the colonists
-Lexington and Concord were the two towns where fighting broke out and began the Revolutionary War
-Old North Church is Boston's oldest surviving church

Synecdoche:
-"red-coats" are the British

-"the watchful night-wind, as it went / Creeping along from tent to tent, / And seeming to whisper, 'All is well!'"
-"the fate of a nation was riding that night"

-"the fate of a nation was riding that night"

-"whisper"