“Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow communicates the courage of a country in the face of war by telling the story of a brave patriot named Paul Revere. The structure of the poem helps develop this central idea through repetition and a regular rhyme. First, the first line of each of the first three stanzas establishes the setting of the story and, more importantly, builds tension. Each stanza describes the new town Paul Revere rides into and describes his experience there. Longfellow changes the time on the clock by one hour each time, and this emphasizes the importance of time and the urgency of Paul Revere’s ride. Thus, tension increases from one stanza to the next until the repetition stops in the fourth stanza. Next,
