On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,— A line of black that bends and floats On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Now gazed at the landscape far and near, A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet: That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, He has left the village and mounted the steep, And under the alders, that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog, And felt the damp of the river fog, It was one by the village clock, He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. And the twitter of birds among the trees, And one was safe and asleep in his bed You know the rest. In the books you have read, How the British Regulars fired and fled, How the farmers gave them ball for ball, Under the trees at the turn of the road, So through the night rode Paul Revere ; A cry of defiance and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. April 19, 1775. The skirmish at Lexington and the fight at Concord closed all political bickering between Great Britain and her colonies and began the War of the Revolution. The following verses are a fragment of the Psalm of the West." HEN haste ye, Prescott and Revere ! THE Bring all the men of Lincoln here; Let Chelmsford, Littleton, Carlisle, Oh, hither file, and plainly see Say, Woodman April! all in green, |