The Highwayman
Alfred Noyes
"The Highwayman" is a narrative poem
written by Alfred Noyes, first published in the
August 1906 issue of Blackwood's
Magazine. The following year it was
included in Noyes' collection, Forty Singing
Seamen and Other Poems, becoming an
immediate success.
Plot
The poem, set in 18th century England, tells the
story of a nameless highwayman who is in love
with Bess, a landlord's (innkeeper) daughter.
Betrayed to the authorities by a jealous ostler
(stableman), the highwayman escapes ambush
when Bess sacrifices her life to warn him. Learning
of her death he dies himself in a futile attempt at
revenge, shot down on the highway. In the final
stanza, the ghosts of the lovers meet again on
winter nights.
Background
The poem was written on the edge of a desolate
stretch of land in West Surrey known as Bagshot
Heath, where Noyes, then aged twenty-four, had
taken rooms in a cottage.
In his autobiography, he recalled: "Bagshot Heath
in those days was a wild bit of country, all heather
and pinewoods. The Highwayman suggested itself
to me one blustery night when the sound of the
wind in the pines gave me the first line." The poem
was completed in about two days.
Literary Qualities
• The poem makes effective use of vivid imagery for the
background and of repetitious phrases to create the
sense of a horseman riding at ease through the rural
darkness to a lovers' tryst or of soldiers marching down
the same road to ambush him.
• "The Highwayman" is reputed to be "the best narrative
poem in existence for oral delivery".
• Almost half a century later, Noyes wrote: "I think the
success of the poem...was due to the fact that it was not
an artificial composition, but was written at an age
when I was genuinely excited by that kind of romantic
story."
Vocabulary
• Moor- n. a tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often
overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes
and altitudes where drainage is poor; heath.
• Rapier- n. a small sword, especially of the 18th
century, having a narrow blade and used for
thrusting.
• Hilt- n. the handle of a sword or dagger.
• Plaiting- n. anything that is braided or pleated.
• Wicket- n. a window or opening, often closed by
a grating or the like, as in a door, or forming a
place of communication in a ticket office, a
teller's cage in a bank, etc.
Vocabulary
• Ostler- n. a stableman, especially one at an inn
• Harry- v. (used with object) 1. to harass, annoy,
or prove a nuisance to by or as if by repeated
attacks; worry: He was harried by constant
doubts
• Casement- n. a window sash opening on hinges
that are generally attached to the upright side of
its frame.
• Jest- n. a joke or witty remark; witticism
• Priming- n. the powder or other material used to
ignite a charge.
• Brandish- v. (used with object) to shake or wave,
as a weapon
Romantic
Adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or of the nature of
romance; characteristic or suggestive of
the world of romance: a romantic
adventure.
2. fanciful; impractical; unrealistic: romantic
ideas.
3. imbued with or dominated by idealism, a
desire for adventure, chivalry, etc.
Highwayman
• noun, plural -men.
• (formerly) a holdup man, especially one on
horseback, who robbed travelers along a
public road.
King George III
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•
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Ruler of Great Britain from 1760-1820
Succeeded his father, King George II
Hero to Great Britain (Loyalists)
Evil Tyrant to the Colonies (Patriots)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwaym
an_(poem)