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."