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The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, and a bunch of lace at his chin;
He'd a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to his thigh!
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle--
His rapier hilt a-twinkle--
His pistol butts a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
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.
Dark in the dark 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 black-eyed daughter;
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say:
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart; I'm after a prize tonight,
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."
He stood upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the sweet black waves of perfume came tumbling o'er his breast,
Then he kissed its waves in the moonlight
(O sweet black waves in the moonlight!),
And he tugged at his reins in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon.
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon over the purple moor,
The redcoat troops came marching--
Marching--marching--
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
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 by their side;
There was Death at every window,
And Hell at one dark window,
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.
They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!
They had tied a rifle 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."
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, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
The tip of one finger touched it, she strove no more for the rest;
Up, she stood up at 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 in her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain.
Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, 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 redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still.
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.
He turned, he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the casement, drenched in her own red blood!
Not till the dawn did he hear it, and 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.
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 in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down in the highway,
Down like a dog in the highway,
And he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
And still on 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 gypsy's ribbon looping the purple moor,
The highwayman comes riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
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.
Alfred Noyes
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Read poems about / on: daughter, purple, dark, red, hair, dog, moon, sunset, wind, horse, sky, death, winter, kiss, light, silence, rose, tree, warning
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Comments about this poem (The Highwayman
by
Alfred Noyes
) |
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comments about this poem (The Highwayman by
Alfred Noyes
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Joriz De Guia
(2/5/2010 12:39:00 PM) |
., this poem is a very nice poem.i have been reading this for years now and it makes me cry.LOL.this poem shows that if you love someone you would do anything for her or him even if you are in an illicit affair.hehe dot was here!
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Liezl Columnas
(2/4/2010 10:29:00 PM) |
As we discuss this poem, it is really an unbelievable doings just for the sake of love.....because the girl who named as Bess and the highwayman really fight for their love even though they knew that it was a forbidden love that the father of the girl don't want the guy to be with his daughter......imagine how hurt is was for the boy...and what they did is really can make you inspire and feel that is a true love, ....that they both died for their love and they mean to do it, for the 2nd and the no ending life......: =)
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Ronnie Male
(2/4/2010 6:55:00 PM) |
The Highway Man shows that if you love someone you'd do anything for them. I wish all boys would do the for a girl... Doesn't work that way.
: (
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Grim Reaper
(2/4/2010 7:45:00 AM) |
Although the two lovers perish in a very crucial death but they're love for each other is an everlasting pledge.As I finish reading the poem I was touched by the highwayman's death it was courage and love that gave him the power to keep going on. The highwayman is a man of action because he truly agree his promise to the girl.Maybe love is not found in words but it is found in the way you define it. ^_^ Haheha.! Werty was here.!
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Kaela Acosta
(2/4/2010 6:05:00 AM) |
....a very heart touching poem that teaches us how to fight for our love...This poem is magnifecent...the poem really incougages us to be true to the person we love till the end of our life...hope this poem will always serve as an inspiration to all of us...
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Erika Eguia
(2/4/2010 5:11:00 AM) |
, ., tHe pOem wAs aMaziNg, ., iT is aLl aBoUt tHe fOrbidDen lOve sTorY oF tHe hIghwAy mAn (rObBer) aNd tHe lAndloRds dAuGhter Bess, ., aFter we tAcklEd tHe pOem I rEaliZed tHat LOVE wOuld cOnqUer aLl, ., eVen tHouGh deAth cOmes aLong iN beTwEen tHe tWo pErsOns wHo aRe bOth iN loVe tHey sTilL fiGht fOr it aNd diE fOr it, .,
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Menchie Celicious
(2/4/2010 3:52:00 AM) |
the poem is great....it is an ode of a forbidden love between a robber and a daughter of a landlord which in the end both of them died but death couldn't tear them apart for the reason that their affection to each other is true and pure......it is an ode that gives us idea what true love really means.......even though both of them died, for me it is still a happy ending
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Vezah Marie Rojas
(2/4/2010 3:40:00 AM) |
THIS IS FROM MARY FAITH AGUSTIN:
after we tackled up the poem...i realize that you can do everything in the name of love...that's why Bess committed suicide because of the 'FORBIDDEN LOVE'...Forbidden Love? Yes, because Bess' father didn't want the highwayman to be the lover of his daughter. Being a natural individual you can do anything just to fight for your 'LOVE'
-MARY FAITH AGUSTIN-
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Vezah Marie Rojas
(2/4/2010 3:23:00 AM) |
This poem is really amazing...I find it hard to understand at first but when my teacher explained it, I felt an unhappy emotion...and as I understand about this poem...it is about 2 couples who loved each other, Bess and the highwayman. When Tim the ostler knew about the relationship, he told King George about their relationship and since in that time highwayman is against the authority, all highwayman must be captured. But when Tim told the king, i believed that he only did this because of his jealousy towards the highwayman because Tim loved Bess but Bess loved the highwayman...when King George sent his men to capture the highwayman, I knew that in their dirty minds that the main reason they went to the landlord's place was to rape Bess because every man would be honored to have Bess in their life...I was so amazed on how brave the couples were because they are willing to die in the name of love...They never thought twice about their love...I was touched on the part where Bess killed herself to warn the highwayman about the king's men but because the highwayman loved Bess so much, he is willing to fight until the end for Bess and in the end they both died. And their love is still felt in the place where they both died and proving that love is eternal.
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