“A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin.”
“His pistol butts a-twinkle, his rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.”
The quote above gives the effect that is almost rich and luxury. Both poems tell you enough about the characters so you understand the story line but still not enough so that you stop reading to see if you find out more or you keep reading to see what these mysterious characters do.
The scene is a very large part in setting the myserious scene in these poems, light/dark contrast is used a lot. In ‘The Listeners’ “the moonlit door” explains that it is night time, now that may seem like stating the obvious but it is rare for it to be dark at night and for there to be moonlight. The illuminating moon is another key ingredient in showing the light/dark contrast and setting an unusual scene in the poem. The horse’s champing the grass magnifies the unbearable isolation of the night when everything is silent but the silence will be a large contrast with the traveller as his travels may have been noisy. Throughout ‘The Highwayman’ poem there is reference to light/dark contrast, it says, “darkness” or “dark” in most paragraphs or there is a reference to dark or black clothing. There is also many mentions of ‘moonlight’, ‘twinkle’ and ‘jewelled sky’, this giving the impression on the strength of dark and lightness changing drastically depending on where you look. The repetition of the word ‘dark’ and ‘moon’ reminds you constantly that its night making you automatically refer to the gloominess so throughout the poem you are thinking of the scary atmosphere.
For setting the scene the weather is also a major key factor, this is expressed more in ‘The Highwayman’. This poem has a certain aura, which creates a sense of mystery and suspense throughout. The poem was set at midnight in the dark inn yard. Setting helps to create atmosphere because most thriller or horror stories and films are set at night or tend to have bad weather or gloomy settings. This is because the darkness helps to create an eerie atmosphere. The weather also contributes to the strange atmosphere, as it says,
“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees”.
This makes the atmosphere quite unusual in the way it described also because the thought of the wind howling through the trees is a classic horror film scene. Although the weather is not really mentioned are The Listeners the reader tends to presume that it’s a dark cold night and from the fact that you are told about the moonlight and from the picture you presume it is a clear sky.
Another good way of scene setting is with onomatopoeia as you are not told a sound, you imagine it. Onomatopoeia is only used in ‘The Highwayman’. Throughout the whole poem, Alfred Noyes uses onomatopoeia extremely well, such as, “tlot, tlot, tlot tlot”. Here the poet is making the sounds of the horse’s hooves ‘tlotting’ along and therefore bringing the poem to life. These help you visualise the hose riding along.Other good examples are ‘clattered’, whistled’, clashed’, ‘throbed’ and ‘creaking’.
In ‘The Highwayman’ Alfred Noyes also uses similes to create atmosphere, like,
“His face burnt like a brand”.
Here he is saying that his face is bright red and hot as a brand. Again similes help you imagine what you are reading about, meaning his face. Similes, again, are not used in ‘The Listeners’.
Another technique that only Alfred Noyes uses to create atmosphere is metaphors. One metaphor he uses is, “when the road was a gypsy ribbon”, which means that the road was narrow and winding, again adding to the mysterious atmosphere. Again metaphors help you imagine the picture he is trying paint but he puts a twist on the way you look by comparing it with such a strange thing.
Throughout both poems, the poets make the poems rhyme and also give the poems a type of rhythm. Rhyme links back to oral tradition as it makes it easier to read.
“One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light”
Is an example from ‘The Highwayman’. The rhyme scheme on ‘The Highwayman’ is AABCCB. A good example from ‘The Listeners’ is
“Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses.
Of the forest’s ferny floor:”
The rhyme scheme on ‘The Listeners’ is that even numbered lines rhyme. Rhythm is a discreet way to get the reader wrapped into reading the poem; it also helps you digest the information. A problem with a rhyming poem is that the poet needs to find rhyming words, this sometimes means using long, unusual words making harder for younger readers to understand.
Another, and probably the most important way to set the scene is the storyline. In ‘The Listeners’ a very good example is when the Walter De La Mare pulls the reader deeper into the mystery when the traveller knocks upon the door a second time. When the traveller did this, it was obvious that he wasn’t simply a person in need of shelter or a meal. He took his frustrations out on the door by pounding as hard as he could. The traveller’s persistent knocking was useless because nobody answered. He stubbornly continued to wait for an answer. Nobody could hear his knocking expect for the mysterious listeners. At this point, I presumed that the listeners live a very sheltered life, isolated from the rest of the world. It is also seems clear that they haven’t been in contact with people for a very long time. We get a very strong impression the traveller didn't want to be there in the first place and was only too glad to be gone. We are told the only reason he is there is because of the promise that he made.
“Tell them I came, and no one answered, that I kept my word”
The traveller, left as quickly as he could (acting like his mysterious past and promise finally fulfilled). The storyline to ‘The Listeners’ may seem very complex when you read between the lines but the storyline for ‘The Highwayman’ is complex before you read between the lines. The secret love affair between Bess, the landlords daughter and the
Highwayman, increases tension in the poem, especially at the end as they are both reunited at the old inn on a still winter’s night. At the start of the poem the Highwayman utters sweet and caring words to Bess,
“One kiss my bonny Sweetheart, I’m after a prize tonight”
He then asks Bess to watch for him by Moonlight,
“Though hell should bar the way”
This shows that he has a burning passion for her and is willing to lay down his life to reach her, even hell shall not stop him coming for her, so to speak. This again is a typical aspect of any film/story, backing up that narrative poems are full of tradition and morels. Throughout the poem there are gradually unfolding events which add to the tension and the atmosphere. When Bess is tied up and the soldiers wait for the Highwayman, it is spread over six verses and builds up to a climax. The climax in this situation is Bess reaching for the trigger of the gun.
“The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at last was hers!”
Weather this was a comedy, Eastenders, a musical or ,as it is, a poem these kinds or lines are assured to give tension and as we all know, the main part to a horror story is tension, will it happen won’t it happen all you can do is read on. In the final verses we learn that the ghosts of Bess and the Highwayman still meet in the moonlight, this gives the reader an eerie sensation and a feeling of fright, but also a romantic image in their minds. Again signs of classic tradition showing.
Alfred Noyes and Walter De La Mare successfully achieved in creating two mysterious and haunting atmospheres in ‘The Highwayman’ and ‘The Listeners’ using some very different and some very similar techniques which gave the poems a good and energetic feel. Proving the fact that yes narrative poetry is more that some interesting tales as they hold feelings and deep concept of real life, but with a twist.