1/16/2013
Elements of figurative language
in “The Highwayman”
• Metaphor- Ex: "The wind was a torrent of
darkness..."
• Rhyme - throughout poem
• Repetition - "Riding" "Marching" "The highwayman
came riding, riding, riding...”
• Alliteration - Ex: "Over the cobbles he clattered and
clashed.“
• Onomatopoeia - Ex: "tlot tlot" of the horse hooves
• Simile - Ex: "Back he spurred like a madman”
• Repetition - beginning and end of poem
Notes about “The Highwayman”
•
•
•
•
Tim (the stable hand) is jealous because he likes Bess.
The highwayman is a robber/thief who is in love with Bess.
Bess is the landlord's daughter.
The soldiers know the highwayman is returning because Tim
told them. He over heard Bess talking with the highwayman.
He is jealous because he likes Bess.
• Bess takes her own life (shoots herself) to warn the
highwayman of the danger ahead (the army waiting to kill him).
• The highwayman doesn't realize that it was Bess who shot
herself to warn him. When he does, he does back to avenge
her death. He ends up getting shot.
• At the end, the beginning of the poem is repeated. This gives
us the idea that they are ghosts, who are still in love, together,
in the afterlife.
1