The Highwayman By Alfred Noyes

See below for help with vocabulary.

Part One
 I
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding-
 Riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
 
  II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
  His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
 
 III
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
 Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
 
 IV
And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
 The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-
 
 V
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
 Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
 
 VI
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
 (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.
 
Part Two
 I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-
 Marching-marching-
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
 
 II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
 And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.
 
 III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
 She heard the dead man say-
Look for me by moonlight;
 Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
 
 IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
 Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
 
 V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
 Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.
 
  VI
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
  Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up strait and still!
 
 VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
 Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.
 
 VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
 The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
 
 IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
 Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.
 
  * * * * * *
 X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
 Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
 
 XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
 Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. 

Some Poetic Techniques – How many examples can you find in the poem?

Simile: A comparison using “like” or “as”

hair like mouldy hay / dumb as a dog

Metaphor: A stronger comparison (by leaving out “like” or “as”

The moon was a ghostly galleon.

Repetition: Using the same word or phrase more than once

  her finger moved in the moonlight, 
  Her musket shattered the moonlight, 

Shattered her breast in the moonlight

Alliteration: Words beginning with the same sound

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed

Assonance: Words having the same vowel sound

They fitted with never a wrinkle

The Highwayman  - Vocabulary
 
Part One 
I
torrent  fast stream of water
 
gust sudden wind   
 
galleon  sailing ship
 
toss throw upwards
 
ribbon  narrow strip of cloth
 
moor area of open land
 
highwayman  man who robs travellers
 
inn hotel
 
 
II
cocked   turned upward 
 
forehead face between eyes and hair
 
lace  string
 
claret  red wine
 
velvet soft, smooth cloth
 
breeches  trousers
 
doe female deer
 
wrinkle line or crease
 
boots  shoes that cover part of leg
 
thigh top part of leg
 
jewelled  fitted with precious stones
 
twinkle  shine
 
pistol  hand gun
 
butt  thick handle
 
rapier  sword
 
hilt  handle
 
 
III
cobbles  stones on a path
 
clatter loud rattling sound
 
clash loud banging sound
 
yard enclosed ground
 
tap hit gently
 
shutters window screens
 
barred locked
 
landlord hotel owner
 
plaiting  twist hair to make a knot
 
love-knot  hair tied in a bun
 
 
IV
stable building to keep horses in
 
wicket  small door
 
creak squeaking sound
 
ostler  man who looks after horses
 
peaked pale and sickly
 
hollows  pits
 
mouldy  damp, decaying
 
hay dried grass to feed horses
 
dumb  unable to speak
 
 
V
bonny  pretty
 
prize   treasure
 
press  chase
 
harry  disturb, attack
 
thee  you
 
 
VI
stirrup support for rider’s foot
 
scarce  hardly
 
loosen untie
 
casement window
 
brand hot iron to mark an animal
 
cascade  waterfall
 
tumble   fall
 
breast chest
 
tug pull
 
rein  leather strap to control horse
 
gallop ride a horse fast 
 
 
Part Two
I
dawning morning
 
tawny  brownish orange
 
gipsy nomadic person, wanderer
 
looping  curving
 
red-coat  British soldier
 
troop  group of soldiers
 
 
II
ale  beer
 
gagged  tied up mouth to stop speech
 
bound  tied up
 
narrow  not wide
 
knelt  rested on knees
 
musket  long gun
 
 
III
attention standing straight
 
snigger  disrespectful laugh
 
jest joke
 
barrel  metal part of a gun
 
beneath  under
 
 
IV
twist turn 
 
writhe twist in pain 
 
stretch reach
 
strain stretch painfully
 
trigger  lever for shooting a gun
 
 
V
strive / strove  try/ tried hard, struggle/d
 
bare  empty
 
blank  empty
 
veins  tubes that carry your blood 
 
throb beat (like a heart)
 
refrain chorus
 
 
VI
brow  top
 
priming preparing to shoot
 
 
VII
frosty  ice-cold
 
echoing repeating sounds   
 
shatter break apart
 
warn let (him) know about danger
 
 
VIII
spurred  urged the horse to go fast
 
bowed head lowered
 
drenched  soaked
 
 
IX
shriek yell
 
curse  swearword
 
brandished  wave in a threatening way
 
spurs  spikes to make horse go fast
 
throat neck