Reading Comprehension Skills and Strategies - Level 7

Na m e : ___ _

Directions:

Date:

A well-known legend is told in poetry form in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Paul

Revere’s Ride.” Below is the first stanza of the poem—with some of the words

missing. Use the following terms and meanings to help you complete the lines with

the words Longfellow chose (in bold). Use a dictionary if needed.

An Excerpt from “Paul Revere’s Ride”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Listen, my children, and you _____________ 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 _____________

by land or by sea from the town tonight

hang a lantern ______________ in the belfry arch

of the North Church tower as a _______________ light —

one, if by land, and two, if by sea;

and I on the opposite ______________ will be,

ready to ride and spread the _______________

through every Middlesex village and farm,

for the country _____________ to be up and to __________.

aloft: up high

shore: water’s edge

march: progress toward

arm: prepare for defense

alarm: danger warning

shall: will

folk: people

signal: notification