Listen, my children & you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the 18th of April in ‘75
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day & year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower as a signal-light —
ONE IF BY LAND,
& TWO IF BY SEA
And I on the opposite shore will be”…

And lo! as he looks on the belfry’s height
A glimmer & then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns
But lingers & gazes till full on his sight
A 2nd lamp in the belfry burns!...

So through the night rode Paul Revere
so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village & farm...

IN THE HOUR OF DARKNESS & PERIL & NEED
THE PEOPLE WILL WAKEN & listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed
& the midnight message of Paul Revere.

H W Longfellow

https://www.paulreverehouse.org/longfellows-poem/

#watchthewater