Note that student work varies significantly from one assignment to the next, even within
the same mark range. The intent behind providing samples such as this one is to guide
students in recognizing key criteria of assignments and in assessing their own work.
Theme Analysis of “The Highwayman” – EXCELLENT
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Strengths:
• You use excellent diction. Literary vocabulary taught in the course, such as
“literal”, “figurative”, and “metaphorically”, is used properly and in context
(communication).
Tips for improvement:
• This paragraph contains ample detail, but it would be helpful to provide a short
explanation of “tragic” in the expansion. In this poem, is tragedy simply an awful
incident or is it also related to how a story of misfortune is told? (application)
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Alfred Noyes’ ballad, “The Highwayman”, is an illustration of the following
theme: love can inspire even when its consequences are tragic. This theme is conveyed
through Bess’s self-sacrifice and the continuation of the legend of the two lovers. When
Bess waits for the highwayman while being tied up to attention, “the blood of her veins,
in the moonlight, throb[s] to her love’s refrain” (186). The image of blood throbbing
through Bess’s veins shows the tension of the scene in a literal sense, but it is also
significant in a figurative way. Bess’s pulsations have the same evenly measured rhythm
as her lover’s “refrain”, metaphorically expressing the connection between her and the
highwayman. Bess is clearly inspired as her heartbeat is synchronized with her lover’s
words, making her feel like she is with him even though she is left to act on her own in a
difficult situation. Furthermore, the ill-fated lovers seem to inspire their society. To
conclude the tale, the speaker states, “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 […]”
(187). The phrase, “they say”, is a vague reference to a number of people remembering
the two lovers after their deaths. This memory recurs on a seasonal basis, on a “winter’s
night”, “when the wind is in the trees”. In associating the story with repeating natural
phenomena, Bess and the highwayman gain special status. Basically, they will be
remembered as long as natural cycles continue, showing that their love has inspired
others and will continue to do so indefinitely. Thus, Bess’s self-sacrifice and society’s
memory in the poem, “The Highwayman”, portray how love can inspire even through
tragedy.
Work Cited
Noyes, Alfred. "The Highwayman." Sightlines 9. Ed. Karen Hume. Port Moody:
Prentice Hall – Ginn Inc., 2000. 184-187. Print.