Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Week
This year, the fourth grade will be memorizing Paul Reveres Ride by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow for their project to end the first semester and begin the
second. In order to help ease the minds of both you and the students, the following
schedule has been suggested, so as to prevent this project from becoming an
overwhelming task. Your children have done so well this year in their poetry
recitations and we have no doubt that they will be able to tackle, achieve, and feel
empowered by the memorization of this poem. It will also be a wonderful way to
prepare them for our quarter on American History. The poem can be found in their
Harp and Laurel Wreath on page 94 99. It has also been included here in larger
font if that would be easier for them to use.
Schedule for memorization
October -December 2017
S M T W T F S
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Stanzas 1 & 2
29 30 31 1 2 3 4
Stanzas 3 & 4
8
5 6 7 9 10 11
Stanza 5
15
12 13 14 16 17 18
Stanza 6
21 22 23 24
19 20 25
Stanza 7 No school Thanksgiving No school
29
26 27 28 30 1 2
Stanza 8
6
3 4 5 7 8 9
Stanzas 9 & 10
13
10 11 12 14 15 16
Stanza 11
20
17 18 19 21 22 23
Stanza 12
stanza 2 (He said to his friendto be up and to arm)
stanza 3 (Then he saidin the tide)
stanza 4 (Meanwhile his friendon the shore)
stanza 5 (Then he climbedflowing over all)
stanza 6 (Beneath in the churchyardbridge of boats)
stanza 7 (Meanwhile impatientthe belfry burns)
stanza 8 (A hurry of hoofsas he rides)
stanza 9 (It was twelvesun goes down)
stanza 10 (It was onewould look upon)
stanza 11 (It was twoBritish musket ball)
stanza 12 (You know the restto fire and load)
Stanzas 6 8 are the longest and most difficult as they have many words per beat.
However, once they have mastered these stanzas, the rest of the poem is a lot easier.
Stanzas 1 and 13 are not included in the schedule because we will memorize those
together as a class during the last week before Winter Break. We will also be reading
aloud the poem several times and discussing difficult vocabulary, imagery, and
rhythms.
Help with the rhythm:
This poem has four downbeats (or stressed beats) per line and each beat is a triplet.
As Paul Revere is getting ready to ride, however, the number of words and syllables
per beat increases (often using all three parts of the triplet), in order to give the feel
of the galloping that is taking place. Below are a few stanzas with the stressed beat
bolded. Clapping out the rhythm as the poem is said can really help to make sure it
stays in tempo.
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.
A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmers dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
Helpful vocabulary:
Belfry: a bell tower in a church
Muffled: quieted
Moorings: place where a ship is anchored
Man-Of-War: most powerful armed ship of the time, intended for combat
Somerset: name of the ship
Tread of the grenadiers: marching of the soldiers
Stealthy tread: walking quietly, so as not to be heard
Encampment: camped out, like in tents
Sentinel: watchman
Spectral: ghost-like
Steed: horse
Kindled: helped to start a fire (used figuratively here)
Mystic: name of a river
Alders: a type of tree
Weathercock: a weathervane in the shape of a rooster (something that points the
direction of the wind often placed on the roofs of houses)
Redcoats: another name for the British soldiers
Peril: danger
Middlesex, Charlestown, Medford, Lexington, Concord: names of places of towns
Paul Reveres Ride
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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.