Question about poetry (literal meaning)?

in this poem about PAul Revere. im supposed to explain the literal meaning and the actual words used that directly state the poets meaning... so what am i supposed to write? what is an example of that in this poem?





PLEASE HELP ME!! =)


heres the poem:


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."





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;


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.





Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street


Wanders and watches, with eager ears,


Till in the silence around him he hears


The muster of men at the barrack door,


The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,


And the measured tread of the grenadiers,


Marching down to their boats on the shore.





Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,


By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,


To the belfry chamber overhead,


And startled the pigeons from their perch


On the sombre rafters, that round him made


Masses and moving shapes of shade,--


By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,


To the highest window in the wall,


Where he paused to listen and look down


A moment on the roofs of the town


And the moonlight flowing over all.





Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,


In their night encampment on the hill,


Wrapped in silence so deep and still


That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,


The watchful night-wind, as it went


Creeping along from tent to tent,


And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"


A moment only he feels the spell


Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread


Of the lonely belfry and the dead;


For suddenly all his thoughts are bent


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,


Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride


On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.


Now he patted his horse's side,


Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,


Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,


And turned and tightened his saddle girth;


But mostly he watched with eager search


The belfry tower of the Old North Church,


As it rose above the graves on the hill,


Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.


And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height


A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!


He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,


But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight


A second lamp in the belfry burns.





A hurry of hoofs in a village street,


A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,


And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark


Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;


That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,


The fate of a nation was riding that night;


And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,


Kindled the land into flame with its heat.


He has left the village and mounted the steep,


And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,


Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;


And under the alders that skirt its edge,


Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,


Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.





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,


That rises after the sun goes down.





It was one by the village clock,


When he galloped into Lexington.


He saw the gilded weathercock


Swim in the moonlight as he passed,


And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,


Gaze at him with a spectral glare,


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.


He heard the bleating of the flock,


And the twitter of birds among the trees,


And felt the breath of the morning breeze


Blowing over the meadow brown.


And one was safe and asleep in his bed


Who at the bridge would be first to fall,


Who that day would be lying dead,


Pierced by a British musket ball.





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,


%26gt;From behind each fence and farmyard wall,


Chasing the redcoats down the lane,


Then crossing the fields to emerge again


Under the trees at the turn of the road,


And only pausing to fire and load.





So through the night rode Paul Revere;


And so through the night went his cry of alarm


To every Middlesex village and farm,---


A cry of defiance, and not of fear,


A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,


And a word that shall echo for evermore!


For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,


Through all our history, to the last,


In the hour of darkness and peril and need,


The people will waken and listen to hear


The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,


And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Question about poetry (literal meaning)?
paul revere gets all the glory (don't write that in your paper, though!)


paul had made an agreement with his buddy to spy-out and see how the british were going to travel to invade the land. the signal was with lamps in a high tower so paul would be able to see it from afar (across the waters). the signal was "one if by land, two if by sea"...his buddy hung two because it was by sea that the british went....they needed to be ready, and ready they were, the british were defeated because paul revere rode through the towns with the alarms..."a cry of defiance, and not of fear, a voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, and a word that shall echo for evermore!"
Reply:too long to be clear


to long to want to hear


so whats it doing here
Reply:This poem is basically about the ride of Paul Revere and his famous "the red coats are coming!" warning because Adams and John Hancock were in either lexington or concord ((i cant remember which)) and the British wanted to kill them because they were against Britain controlling America. so the british rode from boston through lexington to get to concord i believe ((where hancock and adams were)) but small american militias stopped the british troops at lexington and were able to hold them off for a short while, enabling hancock and adams to escape.
Reply:The Somerset, British man-of-war;


A phantom ship, with each mast and spar


Across the moon like a prison bar,





This refers to the ship as a phantom= perhaps a menacing or scary ship that blocks the moon's light like prison bars separate a prisoner from light.








And startled the pigeons from their perch


On the sombre rafters, that round him made


Masses and moving shapes of shade,-- Here he describes pigeons as masses of moving shade, meaning they also block the light.





Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,


In their night encampment on the hill,= Dead people are described as having a night camp, meaning maybe they are watching too.





The watchful night-wind, as it went


Creeping along from tent to tent,


And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"=here he alludes to the wind "speaking" encouragement.





And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,


Kindled the land into flame with its heat.


He has left the village and mounted the steep,


And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,=here he says that the spark of his horse's hooves lit the land and left the city safe as he passed.





These are some examples
Reply:That is.... the longest thing I have ever seen....
Reply:I did this in eight grade, it is just about paul revere riding through Charlestown and lexington and concord or something like that, even though he got stopped in the second city.


it is supposed to make him seem more heroic.
Reply:y in the world would anybody want to help you with that? it wasn't very smart of you to type out that whole thing.
Reply:whoa


that


is


a


long


poem!!!
Reply:it's just talking about how the atmosphere was like on that day or sth like tt :]



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