The Night the Patriots Rode: Honoring Heroes Then and Now
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Listen, my friends, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On a restless night in seventy-five
When the dream of a nation came alive.
The moon was high on the Charlestown shore,
The wind was cold, the river roared;
Across the bay the lanterns gleamed—
One if by land, and two if by sea—
A secret sign for the few who dreamed
That liberty’s call must set men free.
Boots on the cobblestones, quick and light,
He mounted his steed and fled the night.
Through Medford, Lexington, on he sped,
With the cry of warning ahead—
“Awake! Awake! The Redcoats come!
Arm every village! Beat every drum!”
By farmhouse dark and tavern door,
A nation’s future rode before;
Each heart that heard his echoing call
Began to rise, began to brawl
Against the weight of crown and chain—
For freedom’s spark burned bright again.
And though the years have dimmed the sound,
Of hoofbeats thundering o’er the ground,
Still, when the stars in silence gleam,
We hear that midnight rider’s dream—
A call that whispers through the years:
“Stand for your freedom, despite your fears.”
