The first stanza's lines end with “trees,” “seas,” “moor,” “riding,” “riding,” and “door.” What is the stanza's rhyme scheme?

“They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!” follows a rapid costume list. What does that quick rhythm emphasize?

“He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; / And out o’ the tawny sunset, before the rise o’ the moon,” How does the rhythm affect the wait?

“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!” What does the tense rhythm make readers feel?

“Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky, / With the white road smoking behind him, and his rapier brandished high!” What does the driving rhythm stress?

“When they shot him down on the highway, / Down like a dog on the highway, / And he lay in his blood on the highway,” What does the heavy rhythm do?

The repeated line “Riding—riding—” comes between two lines about the highwayman reaching the inn. What does it achieve?

In “But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, / Bess, the landlord’s daughter,” what does repeating “landlord’s daughter” achieve?

Bess hears the earlier promise: “Look for me by moonlight; / Watch for me by moonlight;” What does the repeated line now achieve?

“Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, / Cold on the stroke of midnight,” repeats the time. What does the repetition achieve?

“And he rode with a jewelled twinkle, / His pistol butts a-twinkle, / His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.” What does repeating “twinkle” achieve?

“Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,” uses hard c sounds. What does that sound pattern imitate?

“Tlot-tlot! tlot-tlot! Had they heard it?” What does the repeated “tlot-tlot” imitate?

“A red-coat troop came marching— / Marching—marching— / King George’s men came marching...” echoes “The highwayman came riding— / Riding—riding—” from the opening. What does the echo suggest?

“Her musket shattered the moonlight, / Shattered her breast in the moonlight” repeats sharp sh and t sounds. What do they imitate?

“They stretched and strained in the darkness” piles tight consonant sounds. What does the pattern imitate?

The last stanzas repeat the opening scene but change “the highwayman” to “A highwayman.” How does that form shape the ending?

After the highwayman dies, “*********” appears before “And still of a winter’s night...” How does that break shape the ending?

The poem begins with an arrival, moves through both deaths, and returns to the inn “of a winter’s night.” How does that circular form shape the ending?

The ending uses present-tense actions: “comes,” “clatters,” “taps,” and “whistles.” How does that form shape the ending?