The Listeners (Poem)

Unit 2 – Poem: The Listeners

Warm Up

You are walking into a grove at 12 noon. You feel that somebody is following you. When you look behind, nobody is there. How would you feel? What would you do? Share it in the class.

The Listeners

by Walter de la Mare

“Is there anybody there?” said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
“Is there anybody there?” he said.

But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.

But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.

About the Poet

Walter de la Mare (1873–1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is best known for his works for children. ‘The Listeners’ is said to be his most famous poem.

Glossary

• champed – bit and chewed upon noisily
• ferny – consisting of flowerless plants (ferns)
• turret – a small tower that projects from the wall of a building
• smote – knocked loudly
• sill – a horizontal piece of timber beneath a window or a door
• perplexed – confused
• thronging – crowding
• hearkening – listening attentively

A. Read the poem aloud in pairs.

B. Find a line from the poem to match the pictures given below and write it in the blank.

(Pictures not reproduced here; students to select matching lines.)

C. Read the statements and say True or False. Quote lines from the poem to support your answer.

S. No.	Statement	True or False	Quote
1	The Traveller came at noon.
2	The house was situated in the forest.
3	There were ghostly listeners inside the house.
4	The Traveller came to the house by bicycle.
5	The phantoms answered and asked the traveller to go away.

D. Answer the following questions.

1. Who is the speaker?
2. What was the horse doing?
3. Who were the listeners?
4. How did the Traveller feel when nobody answered?
5. What kind of feeling does the poem create?

E. Work in pairs and answer the questions given below.

1. “Of the forest’s ferny floor.”
   Pick out the words alliterated.

2. Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.

3. Write the words which are used to create a sense of mystery.

WRITING

F. Discuss in groups. Draw the haunted house described in the poem and write a paragraph about it in your own words.

Practice Practice Exercises

1. Who is the speaker?

2. What was the horse doing?

3. Who were the listeners?

4. How did the Traveller feel when nobody answered?

5. What kind of feeling does the poem create?

1. Of the forest’s ferny floor. Pick out the words alliterated.

2. Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.

3. Write the words which are used to create a sense of mystery.