So there we were, just seven people in three bikes (one with a sidecar) out for an evening's ride.  Just some tree-lined suburban roads with a near full moon poking through the clouds.  And then it popped into my head, and wouldn't leave:

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 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.
                                            -- Alfred Noyes



An exercise for the reader:
  Take a glass, put in two ice cubes and a jigger of good whiskey.
  Sip the whiskey, and read the poem out loud:

The Highwayman

A great poem but a tragic ending.

Phelonius

After reading the poem it seemed very English to me,and indeed he was ,I'm not to sure about the highwayman,I think he is writing about D1ck Turpin,the highway thief that plaiged the road from Birmingham to London, The inn were he used to stay while in london is still there to this day ,it is up on hamstead heath,it is now called "The D1ck Turpin Inn"  he was ratted out by a chicken sh1t guest at the inn,and taken to
prison in York tried and hanged ,the same say the guy that ratted him out was hanged from an oak tree in the woods behind the inn,by all acounts I real nice guy he would never steal from lady's ,only men with fat wallets,and he really did give to the poor in the form of drinks at the bar.
Like I said that may or may not be true ,but it's a good story, And we do know that DT did exist,and was hanged.
I guess alot like Robin Hood ,who's name should have been robbing Hood,he was also no hero, he was a killer and a thief .
Strange how we romantisize our villains ,look at jessie james, Billy the Kid,what the heck they make for great stories.

mick wrote on 08/23/10 at 21:03:16:


Aye, and listening to the poem (ode ?) in American English - and by a girl, at that ! - seemed a little out of place...

...I somehow expected it to be recited by a man with a deep, full voice, perhaps with a hint of Scot or Yorkish accent, just to add to the atmosphere...

Just because he rode Bess doesn
t mean that that was the horses' name.

Phelonius

Phelonius wrote on 08/24/10 at 11:03:22:

the horses correct name was Black Bess,I guess that could still apply.

bill67 wrote on 08/24/10 at 14:24:56:

Bill,did that before a white gal,She was a half Maurie,native New Zealander,he Dad was so black he was almost blue,he was a skipper on ferry boat going from the north and south Island.
The gals mom was from Scotland ,the gals name Was Joy Toa,and what a joy she was,and looked like the colour of coffee and cream.

You guys are just dedicated to promoting racial harmony -- one attractive and consenting woman at a time!