It was first published in London in 1912 by Constable and Company in The Listeners and Other Poems, a collection of Walter de la Mare’s verses….. The action takes place late on a moonlit evening at a dwelling in a forest. The time is the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.
What is the setting of the poem The Listeners?
The setting of “The Listeners” is a house in a forest at night. Clues to the setting are revealed subtly at the beginning of the poem, as the Traveller arrives. He knocks on a “moonlit door,” showing both that it is nighttime and that he has arrived at a house.
When and where does the action of the poem The Listeners take place?
Answer: The action of the poem takes place during the night in a lonely house in the middle of the forest. Question 2.
What is the meaning behind the poem The Listeners?
“The Listeners” describes a traveler who has come to knock on a moonlit door in an eerie, unknown place.The traveler finally leaves, but the listeners remain. The theme of the poem is the place of man in a universe which is far greater than he, and which he can neither connect with nor understand.
When was The Listeners written?
1912
A century ago, in May 1912, Walter de la Mare published his second collection of poetry, The Listeners.
Who are the phantom listeners?
The ‘phantom listeners’ were the ghosts and host of the lonely house who lived there always even before their death.
Who wrote the poem listeners?
Walter de La Mare
The Listeners by Walter de La Mare | Poetry Foundation.
Who is the Traveller in the poem the listeners?
Lesson Summary
The Traveller is the only concrete character in the poem. All the other characters are the shadowy ‘listeners’, who congregate in the empty house and listen, but do not respond to his calls.
Who is the speaker of the poem the listeners?
The speakers are the Machines which is the brain child of man. The listeners are the readers of this poem.
Who is the speaker the listeners?
Listener. The listener is just as important as the speaker; neither one is effective without the other. The listener is the person or persons who have assembled to hear the oral message.
Who is the one man left awake in the listeners?
Yes the ‘one man left awake’ seems to be the traveller. The term sleep is often used symbolically to mean death.
Did anyone answer the stranger in the poem the listeners?
The traveller was answered by the listeners in the form of creepy silence. The poet means by these lines that he also felt the strangeness of the atmosphere that was creepy silence all around the house. And it was this silence that was the answer to his question if anybody was inside the house.
What is the meaning of plunging hoofs?
Answer: The description of “plunging hoofs” indicate the diperture of the horse and the traveller. The hoofs are described as plunging because the put steps forward to leave the place carrying the traveller on his back.
Is anybody there cried the Traveller?
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.
How many times does the Traveller knock on the listeners door?
Expert Answers
He knocks at the door twice, yet still no one answers. All he can do is stand there outside the house “perplexed and still” as he waits for a response that never comes.
Who dwelt in the house where the Traveller came in the poem the listeners?
Ans: The intimates of the house were ghosts. It is clear from the lines in poem ‘ But only a host of phantom listeners that dwelt in the house’. 5.
What is the meaning of leaf fringed sill?
Readers know this because we are told the windows are “leaf-fringed.” No head from the leaf-fringed sill. Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes. That means some kind of plant life is growing all around the windows.
What does host suggest about the listeners?
“A host of phantom listeners” might mean ghosts are hosting the man as a visitor. On the other hand, “a host” might reference a number. “A host” of something means a large number. The line from the poem could mean there are a lot of ghosts in the house.
Why have the hoofs of the horse been described as plunging?
The hoofs of the horse have been described as plunging to bring out the picture of the traveler being in tremendous hurry. The traveler is fleeing from the place which is all mysterious and eerie and weird.
Why are the eyes of the Traveller described as GREY?
The word grey is often used to describe unclarity or confusion. In the poem The Listeners the poet describes the eyes of the traveller as grey as we know nothing about the traveller except that he was at the door of the house to keep a promise.
What is the tone of the listeners?
The tone is serious and the atmosphere is eerie and otherworldly. The Traveller: A man who arrives on horseback late at night to call at a dwelling in a forest. When he pounds on the door, no one answers. The Listeners: Phantoms inside the dwelling who listen to the Traveller speaking as he pounds on the door.
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