The Highwayman (poem)
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"The Highwayman" is a romantic
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
and narrative poem written by
Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright. Early years Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Ab ...
, first published in the August 1906 issue of ''
Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...
'', based in
Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of ...
. The following year it was included in Noyes' collection, ''Forty Singing Seamen and Other Poems'', becoming an immediate success. In 1995 it was voted 15th in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's poll for "The Nation's Favourite Poems".


Plot

The poem, set in 18th-century rural England, tells the story of an unnamed highwayman who is in love with Bess, a landlord's daughter. Betrayed to the authorities by Tim, a jealous ostler, the highwayman escapes ambush when Bess sacrifices her life to warn him. Learning of her death, he is killed in a futile attempt at revenge ("so they shot him down on the highway, like a dog upon 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 known as Bagshot Heath in Surrey, where Noyes, then aged 24, 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.Alfred Noyes 'Two Worlds for Memory. Philadelphia: J. B. Clipping, 1953, p. 38.


Literary qualities

"The Highwayman" is reputed to be "the best ballad poem in existence for oral delivery". It makes use of vivid imagery to describe surroundings ("the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor - ") and repetitious phrases to emphasise action ("A red-coat troop came marching - marching - marching -"). Almost half a century later, Noyes wrote, "I think the success of the poem... was because it was not an artificial composition, but was written at an age when I was genuinely excited by that kind of romantic story."


Literary techniques

"The Highwayman" uses hexameter that mixes iambs and
anapaest An anapaest (; also spelled anapæst or anapest, also called antidactylus) is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consist ...
s. Noyes frequently uses
alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
, such as the phrase "ghostly galleon", and also uses refrains in each stanza. The genre of this poem seems to be a romance, but like '' Romeo and Juliet'', the poem is a tragedy in the end. This poem can also be called a ballad.


Adaptations and use in popular culture

* In 1933, a setting of the poem for chorus and small orchestra by the English composer
C. Armstrong Gibbs Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (10 August 1889 – 12 May 1960) was a prolific and versatile English composer. Though best known for his choral music and, in particular, songs, Gibbs also devoted much of his career to the amateur choral and festival mov ...
received its first performance at
Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
Music School. * In 1951, the poem was used as the basis for a feature-length Hollywood film of the same name, starring
Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting. He began ...
and
Wanda Hendrix Dixie Wanda Hendrix (November 3, 1928 – February 1, 1981) was an American film and television actress. Early life Hendrix's father was a logging foreman, and she was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She was performing in a school play in Ja ...
. Noyes writes in his autobiography that he was pleasantly surprised by "the fact that in this picture, produced in Hollywood, the poem itself is used and followed with the most artistic care". * In 1965, American folksinger Phil Ochs set the poem to music on his second album, '' I Ain't Marching Any More''. His arrangement has since been covered by other musicians. * In 1981,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
published an edition of the poem illustrated by
Charles Keeping Charles William James Keeping (22 September 1924 – 16 May 1988) was an English people, English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he creat ...
in black and white. He won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject.(Greenaway Winner 1981)
/ref> * In the 1985 film '' Anne of Green Gables'', the main character Anne Shirley recites the poem at a concert at which it is very well received. * The Scottish children's author Nicola Morgan used the poem as the background for her historical novels, ''The Highwayman's Footsteps'' and ''The Highwayman's Curse''. * The Canadian singer
Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her r ...
adapted it as a folk song on her album ''
The Book of Secrets ''The Book of Secrets'' is the sixth studio album by Loreena McKennitt, released in 1997. It reached #17 on the Billboard 200. Its single "The Mummers' Dance," remixed by DNA, was released during the winter of 1997–98, and peaked at #18 on t ...
'' * One of the videos to the 1987 hit pop song " Everywhere" by the rock band Fleetwood Mac is based on this poem * The 1996 book '' Angela’s Ashes'' mentioned briefly after a sick, 14-year-old girl tells poems to the protagonist,
Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank Mc ...
* It inspired the 2011 illustrated children's book ''The Highway Rat'' by
Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson (born Julia Catherine Shields; born ) is an English writer and playwright, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Highwayman, The 1906 poems Narrative poems Works originally published in Blackwood's Magazine Kate Greenaway Medal winning works Poetry by Alfred Noyes Poems adapted into films Fiction set in the 18th century England in fiction