The Highwayman

The Highwayman is a poem by Alfred Noyes that will send a chill down your spine. The poem uses very descriptive language to create a theme that will possibly leave the reader spooked. The opening lines, “The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees, the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy trees” use vivid language that fills the reader’s mind with threatening images that can remind the reader of an experience that he or she had. Noyes engages the senses in the first part by using descriptions of sights, sounds, and colors that can give the reader a sense of being in the scene with the characters. Examples of this are lines s uch as, “the road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor” and “Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.” Rhyme and sound are a huge part of this poem and the mood the author is trying to invoke. Words like “galloping, riding, clatters, clangs, tlot by tlot, marching” all give the reader the sense of being in the story with the characters. Two literary devices also found in the poem are …show more content…
In the beginning of the poem, the speaker calls the wind a “torrent of darkness.” This is an intense image that has the reader feeling the violent atmosphere and gives the poem a chaotic, exciting feel. The second metaphor is about the moon as it is treated like a character in this poem. The next big metaphor deals with the moon. The speaker compares the moon to a “ghostly galleon” (a big ship) riding on a sea of clouds. This just contributes to the spooky, Halloween like mood set by the poet. The road is also a major part mentioned throughout the poem. It is a main focus in the beginning, middle, and end of the poem. It is the territory of the highwayman and it’s the place of travel, danger, and violence. When the speaker first mentions the road, he compares it to “a ribbon of moonlight” as if the path in front of the highwayman seemed to