Stanza 1 This stanza tells about the setting of the poem. The setting is dark, windy and cloudy. The highwayman is riding up to the inn. Stanza 2 The appearance of the hig
…hwayman is described. The man was well dressed and was perhaps a gentleman. Stanza 3 The highwayman was going to visit Bess, the landlord's daughter. Stanza 4 The highwayman is going to rob someone, but Tim the ostler is listening. Both Tim and the highwayman love Bess. Stanza 5 Before the highwayman leaves he smells Bess' perfume and thinks about how much he loves her. Stanza 6 King George's men went to the inn. The highwayman did not go to the inn. They probably went to the inn because Tim told them. Stanza 7 King George's men gagged and tied Bess. The men were holding muskets while waiting for the highwayman. Stanza 8 Bess has a musket pointed at her and the king's men are making jokes at her. Stanza 9 Bess is trying to free herself and she is able to touch the trigger of the musket. Stanza 10 Bess looks out the window and does not see the highwayman. The road is bare. Bess wanted to warn the highwayman that the king's men were at the inn. Stanza 11 The highwayman is beginning to get closer to the inn and the footsteps of the horse are heard. Stanza 12 Bess has died because she was trying to warn the highwayman. Stanza 13 At dawn the highwayman hears that Bess has died and had killed herself because she was trying to wait for him to warn him about the king's men. Stanza 14 The highwayman was going back to the inn. He was enraged that the men had killed Bess. When he got back to the inn, he got shot and died. Stanza 15 Sometimes on a winter night, the highwayman (ghost) can be heard riding to the inn. Stanza 16 The highwayman (ghost) was whistling a tune to the window so that Bess (ghost) would meet him. (MORE) 
