Comparing The Highwayman And The Unquiet Grave

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Alfredo Noyes' "The Highwayman" is an early 20th century ballad. It is similar to "The Unquiet Grave" by an anonymous writer. Both are comparable, but also distinct I'm several ways. A common feature in both ballads is a reference to supernatural events. In "The Highwayman" the speaker to says that a highwayman "comes riding up to the old inn door" where "Bess, the landlords daughter" was waiting (2. 50, 54). It is said that even after death, the highwayman and Bess connect again. On the other hand, in "The Unquiet Grave", the man's lover is dead, and after he visited her grave "for a twelvemonth and a day", the "dead began to speak" (ll. 5, 10). The speaker is saying that even though the woman is dead, somehow she is still able

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