The poem The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare

 

The poem The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare

Paraphrasing:

Stanza 1.

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:  

Stanza 1 – Paraphrase

A traveler knocks on a door under moonlight, asking if anyone is inside. His horse quietly

chews grass on the forest floor. A bird suddenly flies out of a nearby turret above his head.

Stanza 2.

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  

Stanza 2 – Paraphrase

He knocks again and repeats his question. But no one comes to meet him. No face appears

at the window to respond, leaving him confused and still.

Stanza 3.

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,

Stanza 3 – Paraphrase

Inside the house, unseen ghostly figures—the “listeners”—are silently listening. They live in

this deserted house and are quietly watching from the staircase bathed in moonlight, looking

toward the empty hall.

Stanza 4. 

Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken 

By the lonely Traveller's call.

And he felt in his heart their strangeness, 

Their stillness answering his cry, While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf, 

'Neath the starred and leafy sky; 

Stanza 4 – Paraphrase

They listen as the air slightly moves due to the traveler’s lonely voice. He senses their eerie

presence and silence in response. Meanwhile, his horse quietly eats grass under the starry sky.

Stanza 5.

For he suddenly smote on the door, even 

Louder, and lifted his head:-

'Tell them I came, and no one answered, 

That I kept my word,' he said.

Never the least stir made the listeners, 

Though every word he spake 

Stanza 5 – Paraphrase

Suddenly, the traveler knocks louder and speaks with a firm message: “Tell them I came and

no one answered. I kept my promise.” But the listeners remain completely still, though they

hear everything he says.

Stanza 6.

Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house From the one man left awake:

Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup, 

And the sound of iron on stone, 

And how the silence surged softly backward, 

When the plunging hoofs were gone.

Stanza 6 – Paraphrase

His words echo in the dark, quiet house. The listeners hear him getting back on his horse and

riding away, with the sound of his horse’s hooves fading into the silence.

Central Idea:

The poem "The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare shows a mysterious encounter between a

human and the unseen world, highlighting silence, distance, and unanswered communication.

Short Summary:

In the poem "The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare, a lonely Traveller knocks on a quiet,

mysterious house, seeking a response. Although no one answers, unseen ghostly listeners

silently hear him, creating an eerie and haunting atmosphere.