<p> Marching--marching-- King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door. The Highwayman: Text of the Poem The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, narrow bed; And the highwayman came riding-- Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side. Riding--riding-- There was death at every window; The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. And hell at one dark window; For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at would ride. Wine-red his chin, A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh. jest. sword tried They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath And he rode with a jeweled twinkle, her breast. His pistol butts a-twinkle, try "Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky. doomed man say-- Look for me by moonlight; Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, Watch for me by moonlight; I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way! braiding He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good. He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or stableman there blood. But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours Bess, the landlord's daughter, crawled by like years, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, Cold, on the stroke of midnight, And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers! Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked; The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay, rest. But he loved the landlord's daughter, Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her The landlord's red-lipped daughter, breast. Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-- She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again; over For the road lay bare in the moonlight; "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight, Blank and bare in the moonlight; Window w/ But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her sash light; love's refrain. Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, Then look for me by moonlight, Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing Watch for me by moonlight, clear; I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did way." not hear? Yellow-brown Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, Barren land He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand, The highwayman came riding, Riding, riding! But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight a brand and still! As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast; Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night! And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light! (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!) Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away breath, to the West. Then her finger moved in the moonlight, Her musket shattered the moonlight, He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him--with laughing And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon, her death. When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, A red-coat troop came marching-- 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. And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew gray to hear trees, How Bess, the landlord's daughter, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The landlord's black-eyed daughter, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the A highwayman comes riding-- darkness there. Riding--riding-- A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door. Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard; With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and brandished high! barred; Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting velvet coat, there When they shot him down on the highway, But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Down like a dog on the highway, Bess, the landlord's daughter, And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair at his throat.</p><p>"The Highwayman" Analysis</p><p>Answer the following questions in your notes:</p><p>1. Choose to do one of the following: Explain in detail the plot of the story OR draw a plot mountain diagram that touches on key parts of the story. ______</p><p>2.Why do you think the author gave Bess dark hair and dark eyes, associating her with the night? ______</p><p>3. Explain how the highwayman is an outlaw and a hero. ______</p><p>4. What is Tim's role in the lovers' fate? ______</p><p>5. How is the soldiers' behaviour ironic? ______</p><p>6. Focus on figurative language:</p><p> a. metaphor - List and explain three metaphors found in the first stanza. ______</p><p> b. personification - Why do the hours seem to "crawl" for Bess in stanza ten? ______</p><p> c. simile - What would cause Bess's face to be "like a light" in stanza thirteen? ______</p><p> d. alliteration - In stanza three, why do you think the author chose to use the words "cobbles", "clattered", and "clashed"? ______</p><p>7. Why were the last two stanzas printed in italics? ______</p><p>8. What is the theme of this poem? This should be a longer paragraph response that incorporates one to two quotes from the poem. ______</p><p>9. What type of poem is “The Highwayman”? ______10. What is the tone of the poem? ______</p><p>11. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? ______12. In stanza twelve, there is an example of onomatopoeia. What is it? ______</p><p>13. What is the term called for a repeated consonant sound? How do the words "cobbles," "clattered," and "clashed" create a sound effect for the action that is taking place in the stanza? ______14. Write a summary of the poem? ______</p>