The Highwayman (poem)
"The Highwayman" is a narrative poem written by Alfred Noyes, first published in the August 1906 issue[1] of Blackwood's Magazine, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The following year it was included in Noyes' collection, Forty Singing Seamen and Other Poems, becoming an immediate success. In 1995 it was voted 15th in the BBC's poll for "The Nation's Favourite Poems".[2]
Plot
The poem, set in 18th century rural England, tells the story of an unnamed highwayman who is in love with Bess, a landlord's daughter. Betrayed to the authorities by Tim, a jealous ostler, the highwayman escapes ambush when Bess sacrifices her life to warn him. Learning of her death, he dies in a futile attempt at revenge, shot down on the highway. In the final stanza, the ghosts of the lovers meet again on winter nights.
Background
The poem was written on the edge of a desolate stretch of land known as Bagshot Heath, where Noyes, then aged 24, had taken rooms in a cottage. In his autobiography, he recalled: "Bagshot Heath in those days was a wild bit of country, all [Calluna|heather] and [pine]woods. "The Highwayman" suggested itself to me one blustery night when the sound of the wind in the pines gave me the first line." The poem was completed in about two days.[3]
Literary qualities
The poem makes effective use of vivid imagery to describe surroundings; plus repetitious phrases to create the sense of a horseman riding at ease through the rural darkness to a lovers' tryst and soldiers marching down the same road to ambush him.
"The Highwayman" is reputed to be "the best narrative poem in existence for oral delivery".[4]
Almost half a century later, Noyes wrote, "I think the success of the poem... was because it was not an artificial composition, but was written at an age when I was genuinely excited by that kind of romantic story."[3]
Adaptations and use in popular culture
- In 1933, a setting of the poem for chorus and small orchestra by the English composer C. Armstrong Gibbs received its first performance at Winchester College Music School.[5]
- In 1951, the poem was used as the basis for a feature-length Hollywood film of the same name, starring Philip Friend and Wanda Hendrix.[6] Noyes writes in his autobiography that he was pleasantly surprised by "the fact that in this picture, produced in Hollywood, the poem itself is used and followed with the most artistic care".[3]
- In 1965, a parody of the poem, "The Modern Highwayman – with apologies to Alfred Noyes", appeared in the June issue, #95, of Mad.[7]
- In 1966 the poem was put to music by Phil Ochs in his album I Ain't Marching Anymore.
- In 1976, rock singer and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks wrote a song called "The Highwayman" that draws inspiration from the poem. The song was recorded and included in her 1981 solo album Bella Donna.
- In 1979, John Otway featured the poem set to music as the last track of his album Where Did I Go Right?
- In 1981, Oxford University Press published an edition of the poem illustrated by Charles Keeping in black and white. He won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject.[8]
- In 1987, The poem was adapted as the story line of the video for the Fleetwood Mac song Everywhere.[9]
- In 1997, Loreena McKennitt set a shortened version of the poem to music and released the song on her album, The Book of Secrets.
- In 2000, Andy Irvine released an adaptation of McKennitt's song on his album Way Out Yonder.
- In 2004, singer/songwriter Don Partridge released an album entitled The Highwayman[10] of which the title track was based upon the Alfred Noyes poem.
- The Scottish children's author Nicola Morgan used the poem as the background for her historical novels, The Highwayman's Footsteps and The Highwayman's Curse.
See also
References
- ^ "The Highwayman". Blackwood's Magazine on Internet Archive. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ "Alfred Noyes". BBC Mid Wales. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ^ a b c Alfred Noyes 'Two Worlds for Memory. Philadelphia: J. B. Clipping, 1953, p. 38.
- ^ Iona and Peter Opie (eds). The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse. Oxford University Press, 1983, p. 399.
- ^ Armstrong Gibbs, p. 15.
- ^ "The Highwayman". 12 August 1951 – via IMDb.
- ^ "Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #95".
- ^ (Greenaway Winner 1981) Archived 2013-01-07 at the Wayback Machine. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
- ^ "Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere (1987)". YouTube.
- ^ The Highwayman, Don Partridge, Longman Records (2004)
External links
- Wikisource: The Highwayman, full text on Wikisource