Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-27
Paul Revere'S Ride.
~Otp IROkSIDES

I f>Tt.N my children. and you snail hear
l. ar The Midnight rid" "f raul Revere"
tIc Eighteenth ~ Aprii. IN SEVENTY five:
Hardly man i now av"
Who remembers that famous day AMI wear
IL. said 10 his friend -Tr the British march
~ land from the tonight
Hang a lantern aoft IN the hetfry arch
ar the North Church tower signal light
Oua IL by land and two II bE sea:
-,0d on rho opposite shore will he.
Ready 10 ride and spread The alarm
Through every Mdllescx village and farm.
Tor the country folk TO BE- w snd I" arm
Ineu be said. Good night and mufred
silently rowed /" the Cbaric~tovn shore.
lust tho the bay.
Where. swinging wide IT her mornings. lay
The Somerset British -ofwsr:
phantom snip. with each mast and spar
the like prison bar.
Ard n huge black hulk that macIlihcd
~ its own reflection ia the tide
Meanwhile. hs friend through alley and street.
Wauders and watches with eager ears.
'rill in tho silcnc" around him he hears
III" sound ~ and the Tramp Of feet.
tnd thc measured tread If the grenaderS
Marching utwn I" their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed the Of the old North
Ry the wooden stairs. win stealthy tread.
u" the helfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons FROM their perch
~ the trembling ladder. steep and tail,
To the highest window in the wall,
NH'Tc Nv pduspu ~ listen anu HOOK GOWN
a moment the roofs of the town.
And the moonlight flowing all.
Beneath. in the ehurchyard lay the dead
In their night encaulpment on the hill.
Wrapped in silence 80 deep and still
That he could hear, like sentinel's tread.
The watchful night wind IL
And ' seeming ' to ' whisper An Is wcll.'
4 moment only he feels the spell
OF the place AMI the hour and the dread !
or the lonely helfry and the dead
For suddenly all his thoughts bent I
ShadoWy far
Who're the river widens To meet the bay j,
\ line Of black that bends and floats
TN the rising tide like bridge Of boats.
Meanwhile impatient to mount and ride J
Booted and spurred. with "a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Vow he patted his horses side,
Vow gszed at the landscape far and
Then. impetunus stamped the e9rth.
But mostly he' watched with eager search
The b"ifry tower Of the old North Church.
IS il rose above the graves the hill.
Lonely and spectral and somber and still,
And 10. a. he looks. on the helfrys height
! Slmmer and then CLEAN Of light.
lie springs 10 the saddle. the bride he turns I
But fingers and till full his sight I
\ second lamp in the bclfry burns. ,
/, hurry If roofs in village street i
y shape ia the moonlight bulk in the dark
And beneath. from the pebbles in passing. e
Struck ont by steed flying fearless and fleet; =
That was all, And yet through the gloom and :
Tho fare OF nation was riding that night:
And the spark struck out by that steed in mis-
Kipdlcd the land into fame with lis heat. ;
lie has left the village and mounted the steep =
And beneath him. tranquil and broad and deep, ;
) the Mystic. meeting the ocean tides. I
Mud under the alders that skirt its edge. {
Now soft on tho sand now loud on the ledge. a
i heard the tramp Of bis stsed as nc rides. Y
i twelve nv the village clock
When be crossed the bridge into Medford town. !
IL. beard the growing of thu cock,
And the barking 81 IN" farmers dog, {
Md felt the damp II the river fog =
That after
u vas ouc br tho village clock
Nh"p h. calloped int" Lexington
lie thu gided w"sthercnc1 j
Svs iui in the moonlight ; he passed. &
Md tho meeting house tnd"WS- blank and bare, h
''sz" ~ him with SPECTRAL glare I
- the bloody work they would look upon g
l. was TWO by The village clock
When be . bridge in Concord town.
IL heard the blesting Of the flock.
MD The twit,er Of birds among th" trccz.
md felt rho breath Of the morning breeze
Flowing over tho meadows brown,
Md Md ono vas ssfc and ni asleep in his I'D
VINO that day would hc lying dead
Pierced by British musket ball.
You know tho rest In the books ycu have read
How the British regulars fired and fled
From behind each fence ana fsrmyard wall,
hasIng the redcosts down the lane
S oe ffS s I the t ,b tS to ne 'sss
And only pausins 10 fire and load.
"a through the night rode Paul Revere
Md 50 through the night went his cry Of alarm
:" every Middlesex village and farm
\ voice in the darkness. krock at tho door.
Md word that shall echo forcverm"rc.
Tor. borne The night wind Of the past
Through all history the last {
In the hour Of darkness and peril and need.
THE people will waken and listen and hear
Tho hurrying honf heats al that ste.d A
md The midnight message Of Paul Revere. ,