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The Listeners
Fully illustrated version of timeless classic, The Listeners. Perfect as a bedtime story for the old and young alike.
- GenresPoetry
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1912
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 22, 2025
love myself a lil ghost story
March 20, 2020
The Listeners is one of the most representative and celebrated poems of de la Mare. The state of affairs on which the poem is built is awfully uncomplicated. A traveller stands in front of a forsaken house in a forest at the dead of night. He thumps on the door, eager to enter the house and talk to people there. But his knockings and bellows bring no rejoinder, though there is a swarm of phantom listeners inside. They hear every word uttered by the visitor, but they remain silent.
The visitor feels puzzled. He has a note to convey, an assignment to conclude. He only delivers his message by calling loudly. He addresses his message to the listeners inside to say that he has kept his pledge but none has answered. This is sufficient. He then mounts his horse and gallops away. The reader is left wondering who these phantom listeners are, why they have not spoken to the visitor, why at all did the traveller come at that odd hour of the night to that deserted house in a forest.
The poet wants to incarcerate the feelings of inscrutability, terror and weirdness. Such feelings are aroused when we approach a deserted house. It is hush all around in the forest at the dead of night. The traveller's call stirs the silence as he asks, "Is there anybody there ". The disparity between stillness and noise is obvious. It makes an arresting commencement to the poem.
The distinction is razor-sharp, when the recurring calls of the traveller are met with 'complete silence of the dwellers of the house. The phantom listeners stand listening but they do not utter a word. They stand crowding in the pale moonlight on the stairs leading down to the hall below. They listen to every word spoken by the traveller, whose calls ricochet in the house. But the house remains flawlessly unvoiced. This deepens- the sense of mystery.
The silence of the house is contrasted with the horse who champs the grasses of the forest's ferny floor. It is ingesting the grass vociferously. This noise would have been muffled normally, but the silence of the adjacent setting brings it in contrast. The concentration is drawn towards the horse which is apathetically eating the grass while the traveller is making attempts to establish communication with the residents of the lonely house.
There is the calm of the moonlight and the ghost listeners that dwell in the lone house wo stand listening "to that voice from the world of men". Silence of the ghost listeners stands contrasted with the sound of the world of living men. The occupants of the house stand hearkening in an air stirred and shaken by the lonely traveller's call. Here too the silence of the atmosphere is contrasted with the noise of the call disturbing this silence. The traveller feels bizarre. He cannot comprehend the behaviour of the residents of the house. He wonders at "Their stillness answering his cry."
The traveller produced more audible sound when he struck on the door hard the last time. But the listeners did not make any stir. His words echoed through the shadowiness of the still house. Every time a sound was made, it was largely associated with the traveller or his horse.
Finally, he placed his foot upon the stirrup and rode away. The sound of the plunging hoofs receded in the distance. Silence prevailed once again. We can conclude by saying that the poem narrates a story where sound is set against silence.
It begins with sound and ends in silence.
The visitor feels puzzled. He has a note to convey, an assignment to conclude. He only delivers his message by calling loudly. He addresses his message to the listeners inside to say that he has kept his pledge but none has answered. This is sufficient. He then mounts his horse and gallops away. The reader is left wondering who these phantom listeners are, why they have not spoken to the visitor, why at all did the traveller come at that odd hour of the night to that deserted house in a forest.
The poet wants to incarcerate the feelings of inscrutability, terror and weirdness. Such feelings are aroused when we approach a deserted house. It is hush all around in the forest at the dead of night. The traveller's call stirs the silence as he asks, "Is there anybody there ". The disparity between stillness and noise is obvious. It makes an arresting commencement to the poem.
The distinction is razor-sharp, when the recurring calls of the traveller are met with 'complete silence of the dwellers of the house. The phantom listeners stand listening but they do not utter a word. They stand crowding in the pale moonlight on the stairs leading down to the hall below. They listen to every word spoken by the traveller, whose calls ricochet in the house. But the house remains flawlessly unvoiced. This deepens- the sense of mystery.
The silence of the house is contrasted with the horse who champs the grasses of the forest's ferny floor. It is ingesting the grass vociferously. This noise would have been muffled normally, but the silence of the adjacent setting brings it in contrast. The concentration is drawn towards the horse which is apathetically eating the grass while the traveller is making attempts to establish communication with the residents of the lonely house.
There is the calm of the moonlight and the ghost listeners that dwell in the lone house wo stand listening "to that voice from the world of men". Silence of the ghost listeners stands contrasted with the sound of the world of living men. The occupants of the house stand hearkening in an air stirred and shaken by the lonely traveller's call. Here too the silence of the atmosphere is contrasted with the noise of the call disturbing this silence. The traveller feels bizarre. He cannot comprehend the behaviour of the residents of the house. He wonders at "Their stillness answering his cry."
The traveller produced more audible sound when he struck on the door hard the last time. But the listeners did not make any stir. His words echoed through the shadowiness of the still house. Every time a sound was made, it was largely associated with the traveller or his horse.
Finally, he placed his foot upon the stirrup and rode away. The sound of the plunging hoofs receded in the distance. Silence prevailed once again. We can conclude by saying that the poem narrates a story where sound is set against silence.
It begins with sound and ends in silence.
July 7, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Yet again another super boring poem which didn’t go well with me. I start tot think that poems aren’t for me because 99% of all poems I’ve read so far ended up having a 1 star rating.
The plot of this poem was super weak and super not interesting. I just couldn’t connect with it and I just couldn’t almost stand it because of how poorly the plot was presented to us.
The writing style isn’t better than the plot itself because it was also super bad and weak. And pretty much there isn’t much to talk about here.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Yet again another super boring poem which didn’t go well with me. I start tot think that poems aren’t for me because 99% of all poems I’ve read so far ended up having a 1 star rating.
The plot of this poem was super weak and super not interesting. I just couldn’t connect with it and I just couldn’t almost stand it because of how poorly the plot was presented to us.
The writing style isn’t better than the plot itself because it was also super bad and weak. And pretty much there isn’t much to talk about here.
November 6, 2022
I liked this - 3*
Great stimulus for reading.
Great stimulus for reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews