The Highwayman by. Alfred Noyes

The Highwayman By. Alfred Noyes

Part One
I
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding- Riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
III
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
IV
And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked,
Where Tim the hostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-
V
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
VI
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

Part Two
I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-
Marching-marching-
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.
III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say-
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till here fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness,
and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.
VI T
lot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it?
The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance?
Were they deaf that they didnot hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up strait and still!
VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence!
Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.
VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there. IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat ,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.
* * * * * *
X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
And he taps with his whip on the shutters,but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

Richard Roxburgh

Hi ya'll, Haven't posted in a while. Haven't actually done anything though. Just thought I'd take a moment to say...... Richard Roxburgh Rules !! If you haven't seen the movie Van Helsing you should. ( he's Dracula in it.) Tootles!!

First Chair !!!

Yep, I got first chair!! ( ALthough Matthew has already told you. : P ) I'm so happy. I was really worried that a seventh grader was going to take my chair, but I'm still in my spot and the world is a better place. Tootles.

Avoiding the inevitable

I'm sure that anyone reading this is tired of my constant complaining about the upcoming try outs. a.k.a. the end of my life, but I must say that I'm mortified of the outcome. I'm sure I couldn't get last chair. * blinks* What if I suck so bad that I get last chair!!! I had never actually thought about that possibility. It's not like the last chair is any better than the first chair. All the positions are important in some way.......... That's the kind of thing Mr. C , my band director, would say to the losers. * cries* I could be practicing ,but if I practice then I realize tht I suck at playing and that there is a chance that the seventh graders might end up with my chair. ( dun dun da) * sighs* Ah well, I need to stop wallowing in self pity and get a better self esteem blah blah . blah blah blah.
Anyways, I'm just sitting here with my hair in curlers doing my nails. ( yes, I'm really that bored. Although I hate saying that I'm bored. A bored person is a boring person.) Looking up cheats for my Van Helsing game. Sorta sad that I have to look up cheats for it. It's quite direct when it comes to what you have to do. I'm just lacking any kind of skills it takes to conquer a simple video game. In the game Van Helsing ( the character. I'm not just repeating the name of the game) can lose his hat and you have to pick it up before you leave. Well, he lost his hat and I didn't realize it so now it's no telling where. I really liked the hat. I'm close to the part where you have to battle Dracula ( according to cheat page ) and I don't think I would be able to kill him. How can anyone not side with Dracula? He's doing the world a favor. Yep, keeping us from over populating. *looks innocent * WHat?! O K , maybe it's not alright, but I still side with him. So ha!!
Well, I gtg take out the curlers. So many people to terrorize, So little time to do it in. : D Tootles!

Eight days 'Till I Die

O K So we had to draw a number in band to day to see what order we would try out in and I got number four. There is only five of us so I have to go close to last. This will give me just enough time to have a breakdown and try to drown myself in the water fountain. * nods* Yep, there is a 80 % chance I'm going to lose my chair and........ Why I'm I posting?!! I should be practicing. No wonder I suck. : D Hehe Anyhow, I haven't watched VAn Helsing in a whole week. * tear * I've been busy doing nothing. Is it not amazing how time consuming doing nothing can be? Did I mention that I got a bunch of black shirts for Christmas. * dances around * So now I can wear all the black and red and chain jewelry I want. * coughs* Not that I'm obsessed with the colors black and red or anything. I love other colors too. Plus I have been wearing my new pants.... NO holes!! You just can't appreciate new pants until you've wore out all of the others. Well, I must be off. Things to do. Places to vandalize.

Band

It's finally that special time of year when I realize tht I need to practice my Sax. Well, I sorta put it off a little too long and now I'm starting to fear that the seventh graders are better than me. * eerie background music* So now I'm practicing constantly trying to improve before tryouts. Anyhow, I've watched Van Helsing a couple dozen times now, and it's still the best movie ever. Tootles!!

Back to School :(

Yes, I actually made it through the first day of school after Christmas vacation. Not without Algebra homework though. I finally bought the movie Van Helsing with my Christmas money and Mom got me Van Helsing the game for ps2. Yay!!! (Of Course It's the best movie ever. ) ( Don't question it.) I must go do my math. Farewell!

Tea leaves

O.K. SO me and my friend Cassie are big HP fans right? Well we decided to do the tea leaf thing......The tea tast unusualy Nasty... * gags* I just finished mine. It has a spotty cloud, a heart , and a dagger. So one of my trusted friends , who I love, is going to cause a threat to my life and have problems doing so.....Lol!!! This is quite funny to try. Here's the site.http://www.mojomoon.net/tleaves.html Tootles!!!!

Tales From the Dark Tower

Hi! Yesterday I had to spend all day going to different peoples houses to see people( that I'm not sure how I'm related to.) Anyway, While I was at my Pappow's I was talkin' to my step cuz Nicole and she says that Tales from the DArk Tower is a really good book except it's a Manga. ( She's into all that Anime junk) Well, the book had really cool vampire pics and junk so I thought I'd share the site. http://www.monolithgraphics.com/pages/excerpt.html. She also said Helsing was a good Manga ( Also has cool pics.) But I don't have the site yet. Tootles

Christmas Eve

Yay! Christmas Eve! Can't wait till mornin'. Of course I get up at about 12 or 1 to open my presents. My trick: Drink lots of water so you need to pee in the middle f the night. :D Sounds strange, but it works. Anyhow, Merry Christmas and all that junk!!!

Harry Potter

Guess What!! I'm sure most of you ( that read Harry Potter) already know this, but for those of you that don't ..... Harry Potter and the halfblood Prince comes out July 16!! Yay! I am so totaly tired of waiting. I read the first one when I was in third grade. So the books are sorta getting slowly under my grade level. I was at books-a-million at 12 A.M. when the last book came out. I reall didn't think The Order of the Phoenix was very good compared with the other HP books . Oh well, I must be off. Things to do chores to avoid.

Crosswords

I was .....not cheating... on some X-tra credit Mrs.Tilley gave us one day. She always gives us a crossword and sh gave my period do it a day earlier and gave us the next day because we got half our notes down and the projector broke down and there was the sight with the answers down at the bottom. Jsut thaought I'd share. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/xwords/java/20000101.html Tootles!!!

Monday and No School!

Yep that's right. I actually wasn't up at 4:45 this morning trying to get my algebra done at the last minute. : D Though all I did was clean today. Which I only did when supervised. I had a book hidden under the sink. The only activity I have to keep me busy is the barn. I would play in my tree house, but It's still at my old house and Daddy refuses to help Mom and me move it.WE would move it ourselves but it's too big. I haven't the least clue what the square footage is. I guess it's probably 11 x 8. All four sides are connected to a tree and we have plastic windows and a door ( my last tree house was just a wooden platform.). THe coolest thing is that the roof is fiberglass tin stuff so that light can get through. You really can't see anything out of it 'cause it's blurry, but you can prety much see stuff. You can see colors and stars and stuff you just can't make out the definite edges. Anyhow, since I don't have my Treehouse I decided to make my own little place in the barn loft. Hehehe. Dad is gonna have a cow when he sees it. I've got a chair , a love seat and a bean bag up there . The reason he hasn't seen it yet is becaus eI piled all the hay around it to keep off the wind. My wind barrier also doubles as a way to keep my loft room secret. Tootles!

Christmas Break!!!

Yay!!!! Finally time for two weeks off. Just one more day of school and it's not even a full day.I haven't posted since Monday when I forgot to mention that I had to do a concert the next day. Well, I love concerts in band. Yet I really despise chorus. Why did I join? Because Holly did and that way I'd have someone to talk to doings lunch period. ( chorus joins together in our o' so fun meetings during our lunch. So we have about ten minutes to eat.) Anyhow, not for sure what I'll do without seeing my friends for a whole week.... Yes I do. Reminisce I don't have to do Algebra for two whole weeks. Hehe gtg. Stil go tSChool in the mornin'. Tootles!!!!

Computer Class

I'm sittong here in after school computer class waiting on Matt and Thomas to get here. I don't think they're coming. I just can't turn my back on them for two seconds to talk to anna and now they're gon. * scowls* If they don't come back I'm going to be mad forever. Why? Because the only other person in here is a seventh grader.Oh Well, Tat Math test I as talking about. The one I didn't have a clue how to do. WEll, I don't think I did so swell on it. Althouh I'm bound to get at least 1 out of 5 right. gtg they're here

Caomputer Class 3

It wouldn't be so bad sitting in here, but Matthew is a Physco Path. Hi Matthew!!1 F.Y.I. your mental condition has been noted.

Hi

* Blinks* Still here.

Computer Class 2

Still here. Don't get to leave for another 13 minutes or so. Not that i don't like computer class. I just have better things to do. Like Homework. * sighs* I'm lying. i nevr do my homework. : D Anyhow, I was going to post on my Xanga, but the schol parental controls won't let me. 8 scowls8 I hate the school computer systems!!!! Oh Well. only 12 minutes left.

Xanga

'Sup?
I just got a XAnga acount. I don't know why though. I hardly ever post on my Blogger acount. Oh Well, I huess that's what you get from being unnaturally bored.

Friday

So, It's Friday. Sometimes I just despise Fridays. Why? You ask. Well, you see Fridays is when my , ever so favorite, teacher Mr. Griswold chooses to give us tests on stuff we don't know how to do. We're actually supposed to know how to do it, but I'm am totally and completely clueless as how to find the perpendicular equation for the coordinate of the mid point (1,2). It's quite sad really. * sighs* I'm eventually going to have to learn it because I refuse to have to retake Algebra one when I get to highschool.That would mean that my whole eighth grade year of Math was absolutely pointless. Today Holly and me convinced a seventh grader that we were sisters!!! I know. We have nothing better to do besides confuse lesser beings than ourselves.( Is what we have always referred the grade below us as. Not that I'm looking down at seventh graders. Just the current seventh graders of my school.) It would not of worked , but we Got Mr. C , the band director, to say that we were. He's the coolest. I sent Holly the Library of Classic Vampire Literature and she is reading The Feast of Blood ( Also known as Varney the Vampire) and she says that it is really good. I guess I'll have to read it. It is at the moment 11: 58 P.M. just thought I would let you know since my blog is set up where it doesn't show the time. I'm waiting for my little cousins to fall asleep so I can turn off the movie that they are watching. They look ridiculous. I , being the best cousin ever, Pulled out all of my makeup( plus a little of my mom's) and had them dressed up as gypsies. I got eyeliner and gave them mustaches and a goatee thing . Yay!!! Movie is finally over and the little hooligans are asleep. SO I guessI better go to bed. * waves* .................Tootles.