In the poem The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes uses similes and metaphors to give you a good
picture of the things he is describing.
Remember: A simile is a comparison that contains the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ in it. For example
‘She slept like a log’
A metaphor is a comparison that states one thing is another. For example ‘The bar of soap
was a slippery eel’
Read through the poem again and identify as many similes and metaphors you can. In the
table below try to explain what this imagery means/suggests.
Does it help you to understand the poem better?
Quote
Simile or Metaphor
What Does This
Suggest/Mean?
This means that the wind
The wind was a torrent of
was violent and gloomy
darkness upon the gusty
Metaphor
against the trees. This
trees
suggests that it was dark and
extremely windy.
His hair like mouldy hay
Down like a dog on the
highway
The moon was a ghostly
galleon tossed upon cloudy
seas
His face burnt like a brand
The road was a ribbon of
moonlight over the purple
moor
His eyes were hollows of
madness