The figurative language in this poem has a huge impact on the poem. This poem uses very realistic and graphic mental imagery. The poems repeating phrases make you think of a man horseback riding through a dark, dismal place, trying to get to his lover. It also creates a sense of King George's soldiers progressing down that road the horseman was on hunting him down. The language helps enhance the setting of the story. The story takes place in a dark spooky town, with an aged inn on a stormy night. What keeps the reader focused on the story is the intensity of the spookiness on that black, alarming night.
The mood of this poem is a depressing, serious, and frightening. This dark romance story has a heavy feeling of sadness. The way Bess sacrifices herself to save her loved one is very noble but heart-wrenching as well. Not only is this poem bittersweet, but it is very serious and non-humorous. The intensity of the poem leaves you feeling disheartened. There is a little hope in the end when the two lovers meet in the dead of winter nights, but there is more ache than there is hope.
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