"The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes Quiz

Answer: Bess

"But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,"

The ostler loves Bess. See question 6!

Alfred Noyes was born on September 16, 1880 in Wolverhampton, England.

Answer: "...a ghostly galleon..."

He uses alliteration later on to make it sound better.

"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."

The poem's writer, Alfred Noyes, was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes.

Answer: Only the author knows

Or not even him! It is not mentioned in the poem.

At 21 years of age, Noyes published his first collection of poems, "The Loom Years".

Answer: George III

"King George's men came matching, up to the old inn-door."

George V became king in 1910, long after the last highwayman. It mentions
"King George's men". Also, George III ruled a long time.

Answer: He is shot

"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 the bunch of lace at his throat."

Thus, the highwayman is dead.

Answer: Tim

"And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler 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..."

This is one of the verses not in the song adaptation.

Answer: She commits suicide to warn the highwayman of danger

"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 gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-
Marching-marching-"

Later...
"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!
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,
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light; 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."

Answer: "...a gypsy's ribbon..."

"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 gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor..."

At the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, Noyes wrote a series of poems set to music by Sir Edward Elgar and known as "Pageant of Empire". Among these poems was "Shakespeare's Kingdom".

Answer: 1880

September 16th, to be precise.

Answer: soldiers

"A red-coat troop came marching-"

Noyes died at the age of 77 on June 28, 1958, aged 77.
Information on Alfred Noyes from Wikipedia.
Song adaptation is on YouTube, if anyone wants to hear this masterpiece!