, 1860-12-27

[From the January Atlantic Monthly.]
Listen, my children, and 5ou thal1 hear
Of tho midnight Hde OF rarl Revere.
Of the eighteenth Of April. In ScyeutJ-dve;
Hardly man IL now alive
Who remembers that famous day and scar.
he said to his ftieud-"1f the Bs1tishma
y lind q sea from The town tonight.
Hang 1kntcfn aluft In the 3Hlfiy arch
OF the North Church tower, as siEnallfght-
One II by land, md two II l'y sea:
And l on the opposite shore will be-,
Through every Midalese1 village and farm,
For the count y-folk to be up aid to arm."
Then he aait good night, and with tnut1ed oar
Silently owed to the Chaslestown shore,
Just ii the moon rose over the bay.
Where swinging wide 1t her moortuga lay
4 phantom shIp with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like prtfon-bor,
And huge blnck hulk, that was mAgnlfed
By it, own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend, through alley anf street
Wandrss and watches With eagcr ears,
Till ia the silence around him he hears
The muster Ut men at the barEack-door,
The sound "f arns. aud the tramp Of feet.
And the measured tread Of the grenadicrs
Marching down to their boats on tbs thore-
Then he ~..mbed to the tower Of tho church,
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
10 the btffry -hamtser overhead.
MI startled the pigeons from their perch
On the soubre rafteEs. That round him made
Atasses and mosing &hapes Of shade
Up thoNght ladder, slender and tall,
TO the highest Window In tue vail,
Where he paused to listen aud look down
aud the 1noonligh. flowing oscr I'LL.
Beneath. in the churchyard, lay tho dead
In the l.ht-cncampment On tht hill,
That he coaldhear. Hte ! ssntinsl's tread,
The waschfal night-wind, ~ 1t went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming % whieper, IAN is well:'
L moment only h fccls the epcll
At tue place and hour, and the secret dread
OF the lonely belfry and the dead;
For snddcA1y alt his thouEhts arc bent
On a shaduwy something far nway,
Where The river xidens 70 meet the bay
On the rising tide, like bridge Of boats.
Meanwhile, inpatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spusred with heavy str1ds,
On this opposite vide walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted hfs horae'x side,
Now he ,uzcd on the landscape far and near,
Then impe.uous stamped the Garth,
And turned and tightened his saddlegirth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The bclfry-towcr of the old North Church,
A 1t rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely, and spectral, eombsc and still.
And 10 az he looks, on the telffy's hight,
glimmcr, and then gleam Of Hghtf
lie aprlngs to the saddle. the bride be turns,
But 1lngcts and gazest till full on hls sight
Asccond lamp in the betfty busnai
,,,.a..
nu11J =. noo.s t,b. ~ = h.sns aeress s...,~
snaPe IN " & s1,oa oaH :. ~ , soI aatk
ana peneatn lon " pto1ses. ~ Pass!ngi sPask
21fuck on. * efa IL tnai ,s es IL aao neGt
light,
The iste OF nation was riaing that night;
And tho spatk struck ont by that steed In his flight
EIndled the land iuto darne with its heat
Twas twelve By the village clock,
Mheh ne crossed tne olause 1nto Aeo1ota to#o-
nc hcarq toe c9o~tae ~ " .Ge coek,
ana tns paskiug .s y! III ~ 1als Jug
~ hho !elt tne aamp o. tne nse1:5IoG,
1Aa1 rises "nea ene sun goes ooHa-
II vas ono bv the yillace-ciock.