Betrayal, Loyalty, And Death In The Highwayman By Alfred Noyes

"The Highwayman" written by Alfred Noyes seems to be characteristic in the beginning, however it is notable for the narrative and vivid structure. This poem is stowed with perilous fugitives, romance, escapade and death. The vivid imagery Noyes uses creates a dark atmosphere and sets the scene to give the reader a better description of the noises one would hear while reading the poem. "The Highwayman" is packed with exhilaration along with a compelling story. The tale of a Highwayman's visit to see the beautiful Bess at the terrible fate they both encounter. The poet used four main themes love, betrayal, loyalty, and death. To better comprehend the author's reasoning for the poem, one could analyze the characters, themes and variety of imagery.

Furthermore, one should analyze the line stanzas from the passage above. Line one indicates that the cowboy's elegant and exotic with his clothing. The highwayman's wearing a French hat with lace tucked underneath his shirt one would describe this as a long-sleeve shirt with ruffles at the neckline. In addition line two describes his velvet jacket made with deep red wine color in the 1800's velvet was a popular item and many wore this type of material. His breeches of brown-doe skin in line three are solid brown leather pants. Furthermore, in line four he states that his boots were up to the thigh, believed the highwayman was a cowboy with well-dressed dark intimate clothing. These lines describe the poem being set in the early 18th century, when individuals dressed in this attire. In conclusion, if one was wearing this apparel today, we would not be too fond of the uncommon

The lover's name is Bess while she is known as the landlord's daughter. Bess can be identified as breathtaking and beautiful. In lines 15-18 Noyes describes Bess as a black-eyed daughter plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. Dark eyes accompanied by lingering hair is important because the author takes time to go into extreme detail about beauty. Her dark hair braided into a love-knot would be a kind of ribbon intertwined in a knot symbolizing her affection for the Highwayman.(Shmoop Editorial Team) Noticeably the dark knot is red where as red can be associated with intimacy and passion. Furthermore in line 22 Noyes describes in detail about Bess's red lips this help's emphasize the sexiness that the alluring woman carries.(Shmoop Editorial