the highwayman

"the highwayman" by alfred noyes is one of my all-time favorite poems...i remember having to read it aloud when i was in middle school for an english assignment...it wasnt a poem in our book, just one i had always enjoyed...being a procrastinator, i had not bothered to actually read it out loud... i had the poem memorized and didnt think it would be all that difficult...

boy, was i wrong...

the most driving part of the poem is in the repetition..."the highwayman came riding - riding - riding up to the old inn door"...as i was saying the words aloud i began to feel rather warm...i could hear my voice grow louder with intensity...several of the boys shifted in their seats, their eyes glued to me...it didnt help that words like "breast" "cock" "butt" were in the poem...

at one point, there is mention of Bess, the landlord's daughter...her finger is on the trigger...i never realized just how sexual anything can become...i was young and didnt fully realize just how aroused i had become...the teacher seemed slightly uncomfortable and thanked me for my "very passionate rendition"...the kids kinda giggled, but we moved on...

for the rest of that day i kept hearing my voice...the cadence and syncopation in my ears...the ebb and flow of the reading...i was thoroughly tied into the piece...and still am to this day...

loreena mckennitt put the poem to music several years ago...those words for some reason still have the power to arouse something within me that began all those years ago in a seventh grade classroom...

cg