One if by land, and two if by sea


The words used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem “Paul Revere's Ride” to describe the signal used to guide the “midnight ride of Paul Revere” at the start of the Revolutionary War. Revere had ordered two lanterns to be placed in a Boston church tower to warn his confederates that the British were on the move. Longfellow embellished the story a little.

Words Nearby One if by land, and two if by sea

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.