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'd a French-cocked hat at his forehead and a bunch of lace at his chin
A coat of the claret velvet adn breeches of brown doeskin
They fit him with never a wrinkle, his boots were up to the thigh
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle
His pistol butts a-twinkle
His rapier hilt a-twinkle under the jeweled sky
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard
He rapped with his whip on the shutters, though all was locked and barred
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 loveknot into her long black hair
And dark in the dark old innyard the stable wickets creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened, his face was white and peaked
His eyes were hallows of madness, his hair like moldy hay
But he loved the landlord's daughter
The landlord's red-lipped daughter
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light
Yet, if they press my sharply, and harry me through the day
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way"
He rose upright in the stirrups, he scarce could reach her hand
But she let her hair loose in the casement, his face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume fell tumbling over his breast;
He kissed its waves in the moonlight
(O, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his reins and galloped away in the moonlight and rode away to the west.