On this night, 250 years ago, Paul Revere rode to Lexington. Before the sun was up, shots had been fired on Lexington Green, and the War for Independence had begun. The most famous poem about Revere’s ride is mostly fantasy; in this one he tells the truth and tells it straight.
This is part of American Independence in Verse. Note that poetry is best read on a larger screen.
Memorandum on Events of April 18
I was sent for by Doctor Joseph Warren,
The night of 18 April. He desired
I go to Lexington, and there inform
Adams and Hancock, that light troops and grenadiers
Were marching to the bottom of the Common,
Where boats were waiting; aiming, it was thought,
For Lexington, to take them prisoner
Or else destroy colonial stores in Concord.
I left at once, and crossed the Charles; in town,
Acquired a horse, and rode. The moon shone bright.