On the occasion of this 250th anniversary celebration of the Lexington & Concord opening salvos of the American Revolution, I offer the following lighthearted poetic summation, which my students enjoyed for many years.

An ode to Paul Revere and to the brave Minutemen of Lexington & Concord:

A Revolutionary Limerick

The roots of the great Revolution

invited no easy solution

The colonists smuggled

thus starting the struggle

British trade laws had spawned disillusion

Aft’ the Stamp Act provoked mass dissension

further taxes defied comprehension

With writs of assistance

the Townshends, for instance,

brought searches that heightened the tension

So the colonists burned, tarred and feathered

British soldiers soon worsened the weather

From bloodshed and static 

to young Crispus Attucks

the Massacre tightened the tether

Hence with tea from the Tea Party hurled

the Intolerable insult unfurled

Revere went a’running

the British are coming

Shots fired, soon heard round the world!

But, alas, lest I’ve made it seem funny

The war was not fought for mere money

Aft’ unjust legislation

without representation

We sought pastures more green and more sunny!

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3 Comments

  1. As I sit reading the limerick I wrote years ago in class, it occurs to me that I should have mentioned the higher purpose of the Revolution, which was, of course, freedom and democracy. So I’ll now add a final verse:

    But, alas, lest I’ve made it seem funny
    The war was not fought for mere money
    Aft’ unjust legislation
    without representation
    We sought pastures more green and more sunny !

      1. 🙂 🙂 Thanks! What I should have done, when submitting to the Lexington Observer, was to leave the final line blank, and ask readers to submit suggestions for how to complete that final line. Students, and readers, can be amazingly creative and humorous when given the chance!

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