Compare 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes to Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott'
Compare 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes to Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott'. Which poem do you prefer and why?
In this essay, I intend to examine the storylines, themes and language of 'The Highwayman' and 'The Lady of Shalott' and then explain why I think that one of the poems is more powerful than the other one.
'The Highwayman' is a love story full of romance and adventure. The hero is the rakish highwayman of the title who dies for the love of his mistress - the darkly beautiful innkeeper's daughter, Bess.
'The Lady of Shalott' is a mysterious poem set in the mythical time of legend Camelot. It is also a tragic love story in which the Lady of Shalott, who is cursed to stay in her tower and not look out of the window, dies for her love because she looks out of the window at Sir Lancelot.
The highwayman himself is a romantic hero of the 18th century. He is very well dressed, with 'a French cocked-hat on his forehead' and 'lace at his chin'. His 'breeches of brown doe-skin' fit 'with never a wrinkle'. He is a thief - the highwayman tells Bess that he will be 'back with the yellow gold'. In addition, he is very daring. He could be caught but still steals things and comes to visit Bess. This shows that he is passionate about Bess. He loves Bess and promises her that he will be back 'though Hell should bar the way'.
Sir Lancelot is also a hero and a very brave and religious man as he is 'a redcross knight'. He is also cheerful because as he was riding by the river he was singing 'Tirra Lirra'. The writer does not describe how Sir Lancelot looks in great detail except that he has 'coal-black curls' and a 'broad clear brow.' Sir Lancelot is a typical romantic, Victorian hero.
Bess, the landlord's daughter, has 'long black hair' and is 'red-lipped'. She is a very determined lady because she does not give up when she is trying to reach the trigger to warn her lover: she 'writhed her hands till they were wet with sweat or blood'. Bess is also madly in love with the highwayman because she kills herself for him.
The Lady of Shalott is a very mysterious woman. Tennyson hardly describes her deliberately because he knows that we will each have our own idea of what she looks like. However, at the end of the poem, Sir Lancelot says that she has 'a lovely face'. The 'fairy lady' as she is called by the reapers, is a patient lady. She has nothing to do in the tower in which she is embowered except weaving the reflections that she sees in the mirror by 'night and day'. Nevertheless, she does get frustrated; she says 'I am half-sick of shadows'.
The 'fairy lady' and Bess are similar in the way that they are both passionate by nature.
The road in 'The Highwayman' has many different uses throughout the poem. Firstly, Noyes describes it, using a romantic metaphor, as a 'ribbon of moonlight'. It is clear that the road brings the lovers excitement as it is this road upon which the highwayman comes 'riding' to see Bess. Conversely, the road brings danger to Bess as the 'red-coat troop' come marching. The writer builds up suspense by repeating the word 'marching'. The highwayman uses the road to try to ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
The 'fairy lady' and Bess are similar in the way that they are both passionate by nature.
The road in 'The Highwayman' has many different uses throughout the poem. Firstly, Noyes describes it, using a romantic metaphor, as a 'ribbon of moonlight'. It is clear that the road brings the lovers excitement as it is this road upon which the highwayman comes 'riding' to see Bess. Conversely, the road brings danger to Bess as the 'red-coat troop' come marching. The writer builds up suspense by repeating the word 'marching'. The highwayman uses the road to try to escape. He 'turned; he spurred him westward' when he realises that he is about to be killed. Finally, the road is used as a tragic place in the seventh verse of part two, when the highwayman is shot 'down like a dog on the highway'. The simile here makes it much more of a dramatic image.
In 'The Lady of Shalott' the road brings interest to the Lady of Shalott. Firstly, it is from this road that the images that the 'fairy lady' weaves after she has seen the reflection in the mirror. She sees many different people going along the road including 'market girls' and 'a troop of damsels'. Secondly, Sir Lancelot rides along this road 'down to Camelot'. This leads to the Lady of Shalott's death because she falls in love instantly with Sir Lancelot, forgets about the curse and looks out of the window.
In 'The Highwayman' the only way in which Bess can see the highwayman is to look out of the window. The window is important because, first of all, Bess is waiting for the highwayman at the window. The highwayman 'whistles a tune to the window' to get Bess' attention. This must bring excitement to Bess when she hears him whistling. Conversely, later on in the poem, Bess can see road that the highwayman would ride 'through her casement'. The highwayman soon rides along this road to his death.
Like the road in 'The Lady of Shalott' the window also brings happiness to the Lady of Shalott. It is from through this window the images from outside are reflected into the 'mirror blue' so the Lady knows what is happening, it is her link to the outside. On the other hand, the window does bring tragedy to the Lady of Shalott. In the last stanza of part three, she sees Sir Lancelot in the mirror and makes 'three paces thro' the room' to look out of the window which means the curse comes upon her - 'the mirror crack'd from side to side'. Tennyson has made this very sensual, the reader can imagine the sound this made.
Bess' death in 'The Highwayman' is very violent. Firstly, she kills herself to try to warn the highwayman 'with her death'. Secondly, the events in the lead up to her committing suicide are very dramatic. When King George's men came to the inn, they gagged Bess and then they 'bound her to the foot of the narrow bed'. Noyes uses personification when describing how Bess is trapped, 'there was death at every window'. It is evident from this phrase that there was no way out for Bess. She was trapped, as if by the grim reaper himself. Finally, Bess struggles for a long time to reach the trigger of the gun so that she can kill herself. She 'stretched and strained in the darkness' until the 'tip of one finger touched it'.
In contrast to Bess' death in 'The Highwayman', the Lady's death is very peaceful. The Lady does not kill herself and the events leading up to her dying are not so dramatic. Although the pace quickens as the Lady sees Sir Lancelot and looks out of the window, as the Lady is dying the pace slows down to make it more tranquil. The Lady of Shalott sings 'her last song', which shows that she is calm and happy as she dies. The way that she died was just as if she fell asleep, 'lying, robed in snowy white', floating 'down to Camelot'.
The highwayman reacted very dramatically to Bess' death: 'he turned; he spurred him westward'. However, the highwayman does return and this is when he gets shot 'down like a dog on the highway'. The reader does not know whether the highwayman knows that Bess gave her life so that he can escape. The way that the highwayman returns with 'his rapier brandished high' suggests that he may have been coming back to try and save Bess from King George's men.
On the other hand, Sir Lancelot does not react at all dramatically to the Lady's death. Sir Lancelot is not moved by the Lady's death and this is probably because he does not know the Lady of Shalott. He just says that she has 'a lovely face'. He also asks God to 'lend her grace'.
Parts of both of the ballads are supernatural. Part three of 'The Highwayman' is supernatural. The two verses are the same as two of the verses in part one of the ballad, except that they are in the present tense and not in the past tense. It is evident from this that the author is intending to give the poem an eerie and supernatural ending as if Bess and the highwayman come back as ghosts to haunt the inn. In 'The Lady of Shalott', the Lady herself is supernatural. She is called a 'fairy' by the reapers. The Lady is very mysterious because she is never seen by anyone when she is imprisoned in the tower.
The language in 'The Highwayman' is generally quite simple. Perhaps this is because the ballad may have been sung in Victorian times. The regular rhyming scheme helps maintain the pace of the poem.
Firstly, in the first stanza, Noyes uses three metaphors to describe the atmosphere. He portrays the moon as 'a ghostly galleon'. It is clear that by describing it like this the author is creating an eerie but romantic atmosphere. In addition, Noyes says that the moon is 'tossed upon cloudy seas'. This helps the reader imagine more clearly how the clouds looked and makes the mood of the stanza more mysterious.
Secondly, at the start of the third verse, the author uses the phrase 'he clattered and crashed'. He has used alliteration to give the reader a sense of sound because he has used onomatopoeia as well.
In the first verse of part two, on the third and fourth lines there is repetition of the word 'marching'. This gives us a clear vision of King George's men coming closer and closer. It gives the verse a dramatic intensity.
In the second stanza of the same part, we find two examples of personification: 'death at every window and Hell at one dark window.' It is clear that Noyes uses personification here to give us the image of there being no way out. They are trapped.
Noyes uses a simile 'the hours crawled by like years' in the fourth stanza of part two. It is obvious that by doing this, the author wants to emphasise how slow time seemed to go for Bess.
Finally, in verse six we find an example of onomatopoeia. The author repeats it again on the next line - 'Tlot-tlot! Tlot-tlot!'. This sound effect builds up tension because it makes the reader imagine the highwayman riding along the road not realising what is going to happen to him. Noyes' use of exclamation marks builds up tension and makes the alliterative phrase more dramatic.
In comparison to the language in 'The Highwayman', the language in 'The Lady of Shalott' is rather complex. Tennyson has not used many similes or metaphors.
In the first verse of 'The Lady of Shalott', Tennyson describes the 'long fields of barley and rye' which 'clothe the world'. It is clear that he wants the reader to be able to picture a beautiful pastoral scene.
Tennyson does not give us much description of Camelot except that it is 'many tower'd'. This is because he knows that the reader will have their own image of what Camelot looks like and this gives the poem an element of fantasy.
At the end of stanza one, we find a pretty description of 'where the lilies blow' around the 'island of Shalott'. It is obvious the author intends to give us a very sensual description, the smell of the lilies and the sight of the island.
In the fourth verse, Tennyson uses enjambment:
'The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot'
Enjambment has been used to mimic the flow of the river, flowing all the way down to Camelot.
In part two, we find an example of a simile used to describe Sir Lancelot's horse's bridle:
'The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars to see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.'
This gives the reader a vivid image of the bridle dazzling in the sun.
In stanza four of part two, Tennyson has given us a very sensual description of what the lady can see in her mirror. He describes the 'silent nights', 'music' and 'the moon' under which 'two lovers lately wed'. This is to help us create a very striking image in our minds and it also helps us understand what the Lady is missing and how she must feel whilst she is imprisoned.
After examining both of the poems, I prefer 'The Highwayman' to 'The Lady of Shalott'.
Firstly, the main reason is because 'The Highwayman' is much more dramatic and the storyline is much easier to follow than that of 'The Lady of Shallot'.
Secondly, I like Noyes' use of language. He has used lots of similes, alliterative phrases, personification and examples of onomatopoeia to bring the ballad to life and give the reader a vivid image of what is happening all the way through the poem. Although 'The Lady of Shalott' has many sensual images, much of the description of the surroundings is left out which makes it harder to get a clear picture of what is going on.
Finally, I think that 'The Highwayman' is a more powerful poem because the pace is quicker than that of 'The Lady of Shalott', which has a much slower and gentler, less dramatic pace.
