The Midnight Ride of William Dawes

[dwarven1]

The Midnight Ride of William Dawes

I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, "My name was Dawes"

'Tis all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear --
My name was Dawes and his Revere.

When the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!

History rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.

Helen F. Moore, published in the Century Magazine in 1896.
http://www.colorpro.com/wmdawes/theride.html

And some more history here: http://www.wmdawes.org/ride.html courtesy of the Descendants of William Dawes Who Rode Association.

[Ratchett]

Dw,

Thank you for the post, more information to learn

Thanks again and happy 'seeding!
Ratchett

[crak]

Appleseed Haiku

Rifle malfunction.
Another AQT with
thirty-seven holes.

Sunburned before lunch.
Wind blows away the targets.
Mud this soon will be.

One day they'll hear us
say, "Don't drag wood!  Followthrough!"
This is not that day.

I'm sorry, Sir, but
ninety six and one oh four
don't equal two ten.

IIT blasts off
to a distant universe:
Inches, Minutes, Clicks.

[Ninsho]

I see unemployed life is treating you well.

I like the last part the best.

Appleseed Haiku

Rifle malfunction.
Another AQT with
thirty-seven holes.

Sunburned before lunch.
Wind blows away the targets.
Mud this soon will be.

One day they'll hear us
say, "Don't drag wood!  Followthrough!"
This is not that day.

I'm sorry, Sir, but
ninety six and one oh four
don't equal two ten.

IIT blasts off
to a distant universe:
Inches, Minutes, Clicks.

[GoldFish]

That AS Haiku is fabulous!    I think it might even be better that the W. Dawes poem.   
WTG, Crak, and I would have to agree with Ninsho that............

I like the last part the best.

---GF

[SavageShootr]

Dwarven1

Thank You for finding and posting the poem, and more information on Dawes. My favorite part of Appleseeding is seeing people relate to the stories.

SS

[LayloPro]

Geez Louise....

Hollywood & KoolAid go out to Mass, and infect the instructors out there with haiku.....go figure, eh?

Brotha' Kool, do you -see- what you did??

Crak, don't be saying you developed AS haiku as a way to pass the long, lonely miles traveling from 'Seed to 'Seed now..... Even if it -does- work!

Personally, I like the 2nd to the last one......

LLP

[CortJestir]

While crak's brilliance is renowned, what he didn't tell you was:

Haikus are easy,
but sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.

ETA: The last stanza is definitely the best.