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."