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



(5) 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,—



(10) 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.”



(15) 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;



(20) 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.





























What does the first stanza of the poem suggest about the events it describes?

It suggests that Paul Revere’s ride is easily forgotten.


It suggests that Paul Revere’s ride was very important.


It suggests that the story of Paul Revere’s ride is frightening.


It suggests that the story of Paul Revere is mainly for children.