The Highwayman Analysis

The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping 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, and a bunch of lace at his chin;

He'd a coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of fine doe-skin.

They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to his thigh!

And he rode with a jeweled twinkle--

His rapier hilt a-twinkle--

His pistol butts a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.



Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,

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.



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 black-eyed daughter;

Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say:



"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 stood upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,

But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand

As the sweet black waves of perfume came tumbling o'er his breast,

Then he kissed its waves in the moonlight

(O sweet black waves in the moonlight!),

And he tugged at his reins 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 of the moon,

When the road was a gypsy's ribbon over the purple moor,

The redcoat troops came marching--

Marching--marching--

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



They said no word to the landlord; they drank his ale instead,

But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed.

Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets by their side;

There was Death at every window,

And Hell at one dark window,

For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.



They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!

They had tied a rifle 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 till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!

They stretched and strained in the darkness,

and the hours crawled by like years,

Till, 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 at 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 in 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 highwayman 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 West; he did not know who stood

Bowed, with her head o'er the casement, drenched in her own red blood!

Not till the dawn did he hear it, and 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 the bunch of lace at his throat.



And still on 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 a gypsy's ribbon looping the purple moor,

The highwayman comes riding--

Riding--riding--

The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.



Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,

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.

.: :.

i have to analyse this poem for My GCSE coursework,we are actually doing it as a ballad instead of a poem.
The poem is basically about Bess the lanlords daughter and a robber(the highwayman) are in love but the landlord wont let them see each other do they meet in hiding but he finds out and bess is killed,the highway man goes crazy when he finds out and kills himself.But people who live in the town still say in the night the lovers meet (their ghosts) x

| Posted on 2008-12-02 | by a guest

.: :.

what does the "love knot" in the bess's hair tells the reader?

| Posted on 2008-11-10 | by a guest

.: :.

The moral of the story....??HElp please and i basically love this poem!

| Posted on 2008-11-03 | by a guest

.: :.

I used to think that this was the romantic poem ever written. I, like everyone else that this was a story of true love and sacrifice. But after reading it in a different light, (in the midst of a failing relationship) did I see the highwayman and bess in a different way.
to me now it is a story of true love on bess' part, selfishness and regret on the highwaymans part. Broken promises and loss.
bess is given a name, the majority of the poem is all about her. How she trusted him. How she felt waiting for him. How she suffered for him. How her only thoughts were never for herself, but only for him. How she did not think twice about sacrificing herself for the man she loved.
the men in the story, the highwayman is a dishonest man who takes what he wants, a thief. Tim the osler, unkept and ugly, jelouse and sneaky. King George's men, mean spirited and womanizing.
how innocent bess was to have to endure all of this just fir the promise of one mans love.
How his promise to return for her no matter what cost her everything.
How he was a coward to turn away and run, more concern for himself than for her. Why would he not forgo his own safety to ensure the safety of his true love. He forgot his promise in his selfishness. Actually went to sleep without worry. Taking for granted that she would be there when he wanted her to be.
Not until he heard what she did for him did he ride back like a madman. Was it to avenge her death, or was it because he realized that he was the cause of an innocent love. How taking her for granted cost him her death. How she loved him enough to give her life and he cared of nothing but himself. Grief, regret, loss, and reailization is what drove him to his death.
Even at the end of the story, it replays the night before he made his promise.
Do I think he really loved her like she loved him? No.
In this story every man gets what they really want. The highwayman got his money. Tim the osler got his revenge. The red coats got the thief. All bess got was the reprecussions of them all.
She was the only one that never got what she wanted. Suffered because of each man in this story.
If not for his promise, the osler would have nothing to tell, with nothing to tell there would be no soilders, with no soilders there would be no torment of bess, and she would have lived.
the story is of greed and regret, and how one mans selfishness and broken promise killed an innocent love.
It's of how the regret of realizing too late the effect of lies and selfishness that you created can not be changed when the damage is done.
It kills you.

| Posted on 2008-09-26 | by a guest

.: :.

The highwayman is an epic romantic story beginning with love and ending in death. A glamorous highwayman has a passionate love affair with a sultry landlords daughter called Bess.
Bess gets captured and in a bid to save the highwayman she sacrifices herself to warn him off.
He dramamtically gallops back to the inn in anger. In his stupidity, he gets killed himself.
In a supernatural outlook, Bess and the highwayman haunt the inn.

| Posted on 2008-09-09 | by a guest

.: Life :.

The theme of this poem would be about sacrificing death for someone you really honestly love the tone is sadness and grief.

| Posted on 2008-05-30 | by a guest

.: Highway man :.

The highway man is a poem on the dangerous love between two different types of people. Its shows how Bess sacrificed her life for her love and the highway man gave up his life in grief towards Bess's death. In my opinion a great poem with lots of poetic devices used to create a clear picture.

| Posted on 2008-05-07 | by a guest

.: analysis :.

The Highwayman is about 2 lovers who sacrifice their love to save one another. The poem has a variety of poetic devices such as simile, onomatopoeia, metaphors, alliteration, personification and assonance.

| Posted on 2008-04-22 | by a guest

.: analysis :.

The Highwayman is about 2 lovers who sacrifice their love to save one another. The poem has a variety of poetic devices such as simile, onomatopoeia, metaphors, alliteration, personification and assonance.

| Posted on 2008-04-22 | by a guest

.: :.

hello people obviously this guy is a robber. he loses his mind and is continously jumped by the police adios losers

| Posted on 2008-04-22 | by a guest

.: innyard :.

so oppviously the setting is on a night night when the fog was covering the ground, but was much said with innyard?

| Posted on 2008-03-26 | by a guest

.: Highway Man :.

Truly a waste of the sacrifice of Bess. If it was not for her, maybe Highway man would not have died.
PD: Why when you put in the box if you are human, I said no and it told me something about bots! Iam an alien, not a bot! Neither Iam a human!

| Posted on 2008-03-24 | by a guest

.: translation :.

Could somebody post a translation of the poem? I have to translate it to spanish and its hard to do on your own.

| Posted on 2008-03-24 | by a guest

.: translation :.

Could somebody post a translation of the poem? I have to translate it to spanish and its hard to do on your own.

| Posted on 2008-03-24 | by a guest

.: theme :.

The theme of this poem would be about sacrificing death for someone you love. It's a very touching poem..eh?

| Posted on 2008-02-24 | by a guest

.: :.

This stanza paints a picture of a dark and stormy night. What gives us the image of night time is the use of phrases “torrent of darkness” (which also tells us that it was storming with the use of the word “torrent”) and “purple moor”. Also, “gusty trees” lets us know that it was windy on this particular night and all of line two that it the sky was not particularly clear due to the rain of the storm – “cloudy seas” refers to the mist often found after rainfall over a body of water. The interpretation “the moon was a ghostly galleon” could vary between meaning that it looked like a large coin (not just in Harry Potter… a galleon used to be a form of currency in the olden days) in the sky, but “ghostly” because of the sky being cloudy from the storm, or a more probable meaning being that it was so dark so early in the evening that the moon was still low in the sky and so bright and looked like a ghostly ship over the aforementioned misty sea.

| Posted on 2008-02-24 | by a guest

.: thoughts :.

The poem takes place in the night when everything is dark. The secret romance between a landlord's daugther and a highwayman takes place amdist the darkness. The highway man is a villian, right? But in this poem, he is figured as a very romantic person who goes crazy at her lover's death. It is very weird. But the daylight is viewed as a harsh and cruel reality. It is a poem that does not escape from reality but describes the night as source of happniess against rules. Like landlord's daughter dating with a robber...

| Posted on 2008-02-13 | by a guest

.: .:the sacrifices?:. :.

I had to read this poem for my ELA class, and I have to write an essay about the sacrifices Bess and the Highwayman made for love. The only sacrifices I can think of when I read this are the sacrifice Bess made to warn the Highwayman, and how the Highwayman went back to avenge her death, and got killed. So anyhelp would be greatly appreciated!!!

| Posted on 2008-02-03 | by a guest

.: :.

ok so its all about two lovers right?who fall in love ect... i think this a good poem bla bla bla... BUT its very wierd ending

| Posted on 2008-01-12 | by a guest

.: colour used in the poem.x :.

a variaty of colours are used throughout this poem like:
"a coat of *claret velvet"
"*tawny sunset"
"red lipped daughter"

in a critical essay teachers give extra marks to those who include the use of colour, trust me i know.

*claret is a dark red colour like red wine
*tawny is a dark rich golden yellow colour



| Posted on 2007-12-11 | by a guest

.: Thoughts on this peom :.

well i kinda get the fact that this peom is about two lovers...

i really didnt like the ending to this peom and i tihnk however that it is a really good poem. (although i only picked it because were doing a poetry unit in school(thank you anne of green gables))


i honeslty think that the way noyes uses similies, metaphors and onomatopia is absolutly amazing.. it is completly awewsome and gives way to how beautiful this peom really is and the way he uses imagery is again simply amazing


i cried from the images this poem put in my head..


but anyways you really get the feel and i think Mr. Noyes gets his point across...


well ohkay bai bai

~Marisa age 14 grade 9

| Posted on 2007-11-02 | by a guest

.: Villain :.

The highway man is obviously a villain from his title, but from Noyes' description the reader falls in love with this character, interestingly it is the soldiers (King George's men) who we detest as they mock Bess. Who is the villain here? Think about it, it's interesting..

| Posted on 2007-07-30 | by a guest

.: :.

this is the romantic story of bess and the highwayman
but tim the ranch man is also in love whit bess. so he wanted to kill the highwayman because he was jelous ,bess always look at the highwayman.but at the final bess sacrifies her live and she die.in this story alfred noyes uses a romantic description of the characters,also he uses alot of similies andmataphors to discribed the story

| Posted on 2007-05-29 | by a guest

.: ideas.. toughts :.

What I think they are trying to explain is like how they are going in throug love..And the breeches King George III has are red so that means blood that is in our veins. Then it symbols like love.. The story if you look has many metaphors and similes

| Posted on 2007-05-28 | by a guest

.: :.

I think that this whole piece is magnificent. It has everything. Forbidden love, melancholia, nostalgia, and the promise that even after death they will be together. The sweetness of the words and the sadness of the truth, the clear, uncompromising, and undeniable surety that they will die and never live to marry, have children, be happy, and so forth makes you want to strangle that [censored] Tim and wish that would realize that killing Bess' lover won't make her love him and that he would get his own.

-Bee, age 15 gr 9


PS-- To the question below. No. I'm a fish.

| Posted on 2007-05-23 | by a guest

.: The Highwayman Analysis :.

Alfred Noyes’ (1880-1958) ‘the Highwayman’ is a striking ballad of love and death, set in Georgian England. It tells us the story of Bess, the Landlord’s daughter’ and her mysterious lover, the highwayman.
It is written in seventeen, six-line stanzas, each one telling us a part of this rather gruesome tale. The poem is very descriptive and written in a narrative style, in the third person.
This ballad has a very definite rhythm. A dull, monotonous thud you can feel as you read it aloud. It is like the beating of a horse’s hooves at full gallop, or the pounding of waves, constant against the sea shore. These are two images which the poet has painted in the first verse.
The poet’s word choice in ‘the highwayman’ is very careful, never destroying the flow of the piece. This makes it a lovely poem to read out loud, as you can concentrate wholly on the expression and meaning.
The rhyme pattern of ‘the Highwayman’ is A, A, B, C, C, B. This rather odd rhyme scheme is mainly due to the fact that third line © is loosely repeated, as in: ‘And the highwayman came riding-
Riding – riding - …’ from stanza 1; ‘There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window; …’ from stanza 8.

The first stanza sets the scene for most of this ballad. It uses lots of adjectives and the first three lines all include metaphors, such as, ‘the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.’ This phrase allows us to picture the moon riding high in the sky and sets a very vivid scene in our minds. It also shows alliteration. At the end of the first verse we are first introduced to the highwayman.
In this, the second stanza, the highwayman is described in as much, if not more detail, as the scene in the first canto. Noyes describes the body from the head downwards, meaning we can take in each specific feature of the highwayman. We can see the coat of claret velvet, as described in line 2, or his brown, doe-skin breeches, fitting perfectly to his thighs.
In the third stanza, the poet does not use much plain imagery, such as similes or metaphors, but prefers to use the ‘show-not-tell’ technique. This is where he makes the reader think about the poem more. An example from the third verse is, ‘over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.’ Alfred Noyes does not tell us in plain English that the highwayman is anxious, however you can tell from his actions that he is rushing. This is a harder technique to master than simple imagery, especially in a rhyming poem like this where there is only a limited pool of words to choose from for a relatively complex idea. In this stanza we also meet Bess, the Landlord’s daughter’, the highwayman’s lover.
The fourth stanza again includes ‘show-not-tell.’ From the first three lines we can tell that ‘Tim the ostler’ is unclean and unwashed. Noyes has not told us this directly but we can work it out, easily enough from the language. The actual content of this verse is that Tim, a dirty stable lad, loves Bess and is dumbstruck when the highwayman says loving words to the Landlord’s daughter.
The fifth stanza is wholly dominated by the highwayman’s words to Bess and is unlike any of the previous verses. He tells Bess that he will be back the next morning, however if he is chased throughout the day then she should ‘look for him by moonlight.’ This verse is all speech and so to counteract this singleness of tone, Noyes puts in lots of imagery. It is not using lots of adjectives, although there are some in this verse, but it is very easy to picture in your mind the scenes that the highwayman is describing.
In the sixth stanza we find a very similar format to verse 3. It describes the scene and makes it very easy to understand what is happening. There is an example of enjambment. We also have an insight into the highwayman’s thoughts. The fifth line, in brackets, describes to us what the highwayman is thinking and feeling as he kisses Bess’ hair. Noyes also puts in an air of evil in this stanza, with words and phrases such as ‘black’ and ‘burnt like a brand’, a dark picture is portrayed to us. At this moment we realise there is going to be a terrible twist in this story.
Stanza 7 again describes the scene, but in a more sinister way than previous verses. This verse also takes through the stages of the day. Noyes used this idea in other stanzas, taking the reader through stages. This brings the reader into the story and make s you want to read on. This scheme is used in previous verses, such as in stanza 2 when the highwayman is described in stages from head-to-toe. Noyes, in this verse, also refers to the road as a ‘gipsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moor’, and in verse 1 he said that the road was a ‘ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.’ Both of these phrases are metaphorical, as the road is not a ribbon.
In stanza 8 we see much repetition of the word ‘window’ and ‘casement’ (both meaning the same thing.) This compels us to think that the window may play some part in the story. So Noyes is making us think about what he has written. We are not just meaningless bystanders of this great poem but part of it and trying to work out its hidden meanings. The poem also says how distressed Bess is, ‘And hell at one dark window;’ shows that she is troubled.
Stanza 9 continues on from the previous verse with a narrative style. We have more repetition of what the highwayman said to Bess. Noyes puts this forward by saying that Bess could hear the dead man say these words. We now know that Bess understands what the King’s plan is. She works this out while the King’s men are taunting and flirting with her.
Stanzas 10 and 11 are closely intertwined. Both have the same subject and continue on one scene. This makes them easier to analyse as they have the same styles and tones. We see an example of personification in canto 10, ‘…and the hours crawled by like years’, (line 3.) Hours cannot crawl but this imagery gives us a clear view of what Bess is feeling like, how time seems to have stopped. The reference to blood in line 2, stanza 10, I think should be thought of as a great exertion; in those days blood was seen as a symbol of pain, as it is now, and to have drawn blood shows the extent of her physical struggle.
‘Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;’ this extract from stanza 12 shows onomatopoeia in the ‘Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot!’ This is trying to capture the sound of a horse’s gallop in a word. This technique is again used in the next line of the verse. We again have Noyes’ metaphor for the road, ‘…the ribbon of moonlight…’ this time there isn’t even a mention of the word ‘road’ as the phrase has appeared so many times already that we should know by now what it means.
Stanza 13 again starts with the onomatopoeic, ‘Tlot-tlot…’ The poet uses repetition to drum in the fact that the highwayman is coming: ‘Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!’ These two sentences start with the onomatopoeia and have a very similar structure. Also in this verse we have examples of ‘reification fallacy.’ Silence cannot be frosty and the night cannot echo. This means that Alfred Noyes has treated something that is not physically real as though it is. In this verse, the climax of the whole ballad, Bess kills herself, in the process warning the highwayman not to come to the ranch. This is a great example of self sacrifice. Giving up her life to save another she loved.
Stanza 14 is maybe the saddest in the poem. The highwayman does not realise until he is told that Bess, his lover, was the poor girl who had shown the ultimate level of commitment when she forfeited her life for his. Again we have the reference to blood signifying pain and suffering. It is not a nice experience for the highwayman when he realises that he had not recognised Bess’ still corpse.
In stanza 15 we see the highwayman’s reaction to this terrible news. He acts without really thinking in a rash moment of anger. This tragic end to a loving relationship, where both lovers end up dying for one another shows links to Shakespeare’s famous plays ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Anthony and Cleopatra.’ We have lots of references to colour in this verse especially red. This is described as, ‘blood-red and wine-red.’ The poet also shows the road as white, standing out against the highwayman. We know now that the highwayman has no chance of surviving this deed to avenge Bess’ death.
Stanzas 16 and 17 are simply repeats of verses 1 and 3, slightly changed into a more narrative style.
Overall this stunning romantic ballad by Alfred Noyes has a very tragic end; one that does not suit such a flourishing love.

Aged 12

| Posted on 2007-04-24 | by a guest

.: Ballad Brief :.

I think that the ballad'The Highwayman' is very romantic because of the storyline and the old words which Alfred Noyes has used. The old words are making the ballad more romantic because in the olden times there was more romance then ever in the world of history.

| Posted on 2007-04-22 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

I gathered that this poem is about two people who are in love: Bess the landlord's daughter and the highway man. But there is another person who is in love with Bess: The stable hand of the Landlord's land. Bess does not notice him, and he is jealous that the highwayman is the only one who captures Bess. So he wants to change that by taking the highwayman out of her life by telling the king of his wereabouts, and helping him capture the highwayman. But the plan doesnot go as planed and the landlord's daughter is 'caught' in it. She ends up killing herself to warn and protect the highwayman. After the highway man finds out that she is dead he seeks revenge and goes back to the landlord's land, where the King and his men kill him.

| Posted on 2007-04-08 | by a guest

.: :.

Alfred Noyes’ poem The Highwayman is the bittersweet love story of Bess and the highwayman. Bess’ father owns a ranch, and she is in love with the highwayman. Tim, a ranch hand, is also in love with Bess, and in an attempt to get rid of the highwayman, he assists the King’s men in a plot to capture him. Unfortunately, the plot takes a turn for the worst when Bess is tied up and left with a gun. She is there as a means of tempting the highwayman to come to the ranch, but she uses the gun to kill herself in order to warn him. The highwayman hears the gunshot and doesn’t travel to the ranch, but later on, he hears of Bess’ death and returns to seek revenge, only to be killed by the Kings’ men.

| Posted on 2007-02-05 | by a guest

.: i dont undestand :.

i wanna kno if tim informed the king georges men about the highwaymans plans. I also wanna kno what Bess did to try and save the highwaymans life. Like it says she shot herself to try and save the highwayman i wanna kno what it means by that. it would be good if u reply to me as soon as possible. thanx a lot for ur help



| Posted on 2007-01-25 | by a guest

.: ideas :.

The ideas Alfred was trying to communicate with us is about love and sacrifice. He hows us the sacrifices people will make for love and that sometimes love can be so strong it canoften be everlasting.

In the first stanza he sets the scene. Using metaphors such as "the wind was a torrent of darkness" and "the moon was a ghostly halleon" creates a mystical atmosphere. This is very affective, as it gives the reader the appropriate feeling.

He has used effective rhyme to formulate a rhythm which the reader finds easy to read. The rhythm may be described as particularly bouncy as if a horse is trotting. Onematopoeia has also been useful here, such as "tlot, tlot".

Blood was used to symbolise pain, suffering, sacrifice and love. "she writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood".

Alfred has also successfully used emotive words to capture the reader. "there was death at every window and hell at one dark window". The author uses this to help the reader more understand the level of intensity at this moment; also to reveal the danger that the highwayman was in.

Alfred Noyes writes in a very romantic way. Describing Bess with her cascade of hair shows this, also describing the highwayman as heroic with his rapier.

Terence age 13 form 3

| Posted on 2006-04-06 | by Approved Guest

.: Lines 1-6 :.

This stanza paints a picture of a dark and stormy night. What gives us the image of night time is the use of phrases “torrent of darkness” (which also tells us that it was storming with the use of the word “torrent”) and “purple moor”. Also, “gusty trees” lets us know that it was windy on this particular night and all of line two that it the sky was not particularly clear due to the rain of the storm – “cloudy seas” refers to the mist often found after rainfall over a body of water. The interpretation “the moon was a ghostly galleon” could vary between meaning that it looked like a large coin (not just in Harry Potter… a galleon used to be a form of currency in the olden days) in the sky, but “ghostly” because of the sky being cloudy from the storm, or a more probable meaning being that it was so dark so early in the evening that the moon was still low in the sky and so bright and looked like a ghostly ship over the aforementioned misty sea.

- Beth, age 15 gr 10

| Posted on 2005-11-21 | by Approved Guest