The Highwayman

“The Highwayman” is a ballad-poem written in 102 lines grouped into 17 stanzas. The poem is divided into two parts, with a closing two-stanza epilogue at the end. The poem’s meter generally follows a pattern consistent with the ballad form, using hexameters of six metric feet per line. The rhythm, however, alternates depending on the line—sometimes using iambs, where an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, and sometimes using anapests, where two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable. For example, Line 37 features both iambs and anapests, but remains a hexameter despite the variation:

“He did | not come | in the dawn- | ing. He did | not come | at noon; (Line 37)

The poem’s rhyme scheme follows a traditional pattern through to the end. Each stanza follows an AABCCB rhyme scheme with no variation throughout. Noyes repeats particular “CC” group rhymes across stanzas, such as “moonlight” (Stanzas 5, 6, 9, 11, 13), “daughter” (Stanzas 3, 4, 14, 17) and “riding” (Stanzas 1, 12, 16), adding to the sing-song effect of the ballad form.