Paul Revere

By Abbey Gregory

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.

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, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar

Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street

Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,

In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,

Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.

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 farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,

When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,

When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read

How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

In Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is the tale of the beginning of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Although, in this story Paul Revere is a patriot in the war, he was not always on the watch of the British military. Up until he took part in the Boston tea party act, he was just a Silversmith. Shortly after the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere served as a courier for the Boston Committee of Public Safety. He traveled from Philadelphia to New York to report on the political happenings in places near Boston.

On April 7, 1775, there was rumor of movement by the British army. Joseph Warren sent Paul Revere to warn the Massachusetts Congress of the possible attack. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. on April 18th, Joseph Warren told Paul Revere that the British army were about to leave Cambridge in Ships. They were bound for Boston, Lexington and Concord. Warren told Revere that the objectives of the British were likely to Capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Adams and Hancock were not aware of any of these happenings, so Paul Revere was sent out to warn them as well as all of the military in nearby towns.

At this point the poem picks up. He said to his friend if the British march to hang a lantern in Belfry Arch. This is a signal between the people leading the counter attack. He said if one by land and two by sea warn all the people they encounter I will do the same on the opposite shore and we will warn all the townspeople to prepare for war. He then silently rode across the Charlestown shore. Just as the moon rose over the bay the Phantom ship of the British sailed its way into shore. Meanwhile, Revere’s friend quietly warned everyone of the oncoming battle. If you listened through the silence you could here the men, the arms, the tramping of feet making there way down to the shore. His friend climbed the tower of the old church to check on all the happenings in the town. What he saw in the churchyard was the dead. Some of townspeople, but mostly British. For a second he thought the battle was won but then he saw more ships coming in.

Meanwhile, on the opposite shore Paul Revere watched as all the ships started to come in. A hurry of hooves in the village street. Paul Revere raced to the waters edge. It was 12:00 by the time he crossed the bridge to Medford town. He heard noises around him that told him the whole town was awake. It was 1:00 when he rode into Lexington. He was almost there. It was 2:00 when he rode into Concord. He crossed the bridge that would be first to fall, when it was hit by a british musket ball. The British army fought but surrendered in the end. People all around fought against them and there were just too many for the British to win. So through the night rode Paul Revere and warned many towns to prepare for the British.

Paul Revere’s Ride is a partially fictional story of the great battles of Lexington and Concord. These battles write the story of our country. Many lives and communities were lost but in the end a great country was formed. Paul Revere helped lead the Americans in a tremendous revolution that shaped the United States of America.

Works Cited

"Fast American Revolution Facts." Fast American Revolution Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"History Myths Debunked." History Myths Debunked. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"Paul Revere Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"Paul Revere." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"Paul Revere." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"Paul Revere's Ride." Paul Revere's Ride. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.