Read the poem. excerpt from "paul revere's ride" by henry wadsworth longfellow paul revere was an express rider who, on april 18, 1775, was charged with delivering a message and alerting communities about the approaching british troops. 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 tonight, 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 an arm. how does the content of these stanzas advance the story in this narrative poem? it details the architecture of the north church. it details the british march toward middlesex county. it describes the geography of middlesex county. it introduces paul revere and his mission.