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By Alfred Noyes Submitted by Echolocation Date: 2001 Jul 02 Comment on this Work [[2001.07.02.22.20.31298]] |
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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. 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 doeskin; 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. 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 "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight, 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." He rose upright in his 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. He did not come in the dawning, he did not come at noon; And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, A redcoat troop came marching -- Marching -- marching -- King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door. They said no word to the landlord, but drank his ale instead And they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed Two of them knelt at the 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. They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had 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." She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good She writhed her hands til her 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. The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest. Up she stood 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. Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves ringing clear' Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear? Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, The higwayman came riding, Riding, riding! The redcoats looked to their priming; she stood up straight and still. 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. He turned, he spurred to the Westward; he did not know she 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. 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 in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat, When they shot him down in the highway Down like a dog in the highway, And he lay in his blood in the highway with a bunch of lace at his throat. ******************** 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 ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding -- Riding -- riding -- A highwayman comes riding up to the old inn door. 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. |