The Listeners

‘The Listeners’
by Walter de la Mare
Grade 7
Lesson Objective
To evaluate the techniques used to create atmosphere in ‘The Listeners’ by
Walter de la Mare.
Success Criteria
• To identify the key ingredients of a sinister story
• To understand key facts about the life of Walter de la Mare
• To analyse the techniques used in ‘The Listeners’
Into The Unknown
When was this poem published?
Walter de la Mare published "The Listeners" in 1912, as the title poem of his second
collection of poetry. It remains one of his most famous pieces of writing.
What did Del a Mare look like?

The life of Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) spans
earthshattering changes in history and art.
The England into which he was born was a colonial empire
stretching across the globe. Horse-drawn carriage was the
only means of local transportation. In the year of his death,
Britain, withered from World War II, had withdrawn from
India, Burma, Palestine, and elsewhere. The automobile had
long replaced the horse and carriage; indeed, air travel had become ubiquitous
Walter de la Mare: Pre-Reading
Worksheet
1873
Medal
stories
Walter de la Mare was born in ___________

1956 in, England. For over
___________ years he
worked for an ___________ company, novelsbefore he was able to give up his
___________ job and concentrate on his ___________.
De la Mare wrote short ___________, poems and ___________, often
supernatural
with ___________,
fantasy or spiritual themes. He also wrote stories for ___________, and
children
was awarded the ___________ Carnegie ___________ for his ‘Collected
Stories for Children’. office
In 1892 he married, ___________ with whom he had two sons and two
daughters. He died in___________.ten
four
Pair Work: Observe and Record
Grade 7
UNFAMILIAR WORDS
Grade 7
UNFAMILIAR WORDS
•Descended- Came down • Cropping- biting and eating the tops of

•Phantom- a ghost, something imaginary plants
•Hearkening- Listening ‘neath- underneath
•Thronging- Crowding Fern- green plants
•Stirred- moved Perplexed- confused
Spake- spoke (in old English)
Grade 7
TURRET
•A small tower
Grade 7
SMOTE
To strike with a firm blow.

Past tense of smite
Grade 7
TURF
grass and the surface layer

of earth held together by its
roots
Grade 7
STIRRUP
devices attached to each

side of a horse's saddle,
in the form of a loop
with a flat base to
support the rider's foot.
Grade 7
VIDEO
devices attached to each

side of a horse's saddle,
in the form of a loop
with a flat base to
support the rider's foot.
Grade 7
MOOD OF THE POEM
Mood in poetry - Mood is the feeling created by the poet

for the reader. Example: Some words that can describe
the mood of a poem might be: romantic, realistic,
optimistic, pessimistic, gloomy, mournful, sorrowful, etc.
What is the mood in this poem?
• Feeling of unease
• Spooky
• Creepy
• Eerie
Grade 7
‘The Listeners’ by Walter de la Mare
In pairs, try reading the poem to each other in a whisper. Which sounds stand out?
Why do you think that is?
Key Term
Sibilance: the repetition of the
‘s’ or ‘sh’ sound in a phrase.
Analysis
‘The Listeners’ is an example of a narrative poem: it tells a story and has a character
or characters. Narrative poems usually rhyme and can be quite long – in fact, this is a
short example of a narrative poem.
1.Can you identify the rhyme scheme in the poem?
2.Can you find any other literary techniques used in the poem? What is their effect?
Sinister Subtext : Post Reading Worksheet
The secret to the success of ‘The Listeners’ is what the poet does not say – he allows
the reader to fill in the unknowns of the story with their imagination.
1.In one sentence, summarise what happens in the poem. Just record the surface
meaning – none of the hints and subtext.
2.Pair Work: Now, go through the poem and find three key phrases which hint that
there is more going on than meets the eye. Can you explain what these phrases are
implying? What is the subtext?
What is the Setting of The Listeners?
• A moonlight night.
• A forest that is wild with undergrowth.
• An abandoned huge house.
• A traveller who arrives on a horse (this implies the setting is not
modern).
Grade 7
Imagery Used in The Listeners
• Visual imagery- moonlight door, plunging hoofs, stood thronging

the faint moonbeams on the dark stair, no head from the leaf-
fringed sill, forest’s ferny floor.
• Auditory Imagery- Smote, knocking on the door, a bird flew up out

of the turret, heard his foot upon the stirrup, sound of iron on stone,
echoing through the shadowiness of the still house.
Grade 7
What is the tone of The Listeners?
The tone of the poem is serious, creepy, ominous.

The Tone is displayed using the author’s choice of words or phrases like:
No one descended to the traveller
Only a host of phantom listeners that dwelt in the lone house
Lonely traveller’s call
He felt in his heart their strangeness.
All these words /phrases evoke a sense of unease in the reader.
Grade 7
Identify instances of alliteration, repetition,
and Imagery.
Grade 7
What is common in the following sentences?
• A wise fool.
• Less is more.
• If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.
• Here are the rules: Ignore all rules.
Grade 7
Paradox
A paradox is a statement that contains ideas that may

seem contradictory but is still true.
In poetry, paradox is used as a poetic device to create

a sense of interest in the reader’s minds.
Grade 7
Paradox in The Listeners
Their stillness answering his cry- This is a paradox because stillness or

lack of motion is not an answer. When the traveller calls out, he is met
with silence. The complete silence feels like an answer to his call,
indicating that the place was empty and adds to the unease that the
traveller felt.
The silence surged softly backward- a surge implies a powerful

movement that comes with a massive sound(like waves). Silence cannot
surge. But as the traveller leaves the place, galloping on the horse, silence
envelops it in a ‘soft surge’ and the place goes back to its silent self
making it a paradox.
Grade 7
Anaphora
anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning

of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
For example, “And” in lines five and seven, as well as thirty-
four and thirty-five.
Grade 7
Alliteration
Alliteration is used throughout the poem to emphasize certain

sounds and create a rhythmic pattern. For example, "forest's
ferny floor" and "silence surged softly. ".
Grade 7
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For

example, the sound of /o/ and /oo/ in “Knocking on the moonlit
door.”
Grade 7
Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example,
the sound of /s/ in “And his horse in the silence champed the grasses”, /n/ in
“Leaned over and looked into his grey eye” and the sound of /s/ and /l/ in “Stood
listening in the quiet of the moonlight.”
Grade 7
Notebook Q-Ans
Attempt parts a,b,e,f, h in the notebook and c,d,g,i
in the book
The End
Grade 7

The Listeners

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‘The Listeners’

What did Del a Mare look like?

Walter de la Mare was born in ___________

•Descended- Came down • Cropping- biting and eating the tops of

Spake- spoke (in old English)

To strike with a firm blow.

grass and the surface layer

devices attached to each

devices attached to each

Mood in poetry - Mood is the feeling created by the poet

What is the mood in this poem?

1.Can you identify the rhyme scheme in the poem?

• A forest that is wild with undergrowth.

• An abandoned huge house.

• A traveller who arrives on a horse (this implies the setting is not

• Visual imagery- moonlight door, plunging hoofs, stood thronging

• Auditory Imagery- Smote, knocking on the door, a bird flew up out

The tone of the poem is serious, creepy, ominous.

• If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing.

• Here are the rules: Ignore all rules.

A paradox is a statement that contains ideas that may

In poetry, paradox is used as a poetic device to create

Their stillness answering his cry- This is a paradox because stillness or

The silence surged softly backward- a surge implies a powerful

anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning

Alliteration is used throughout the poem to emphasize certain

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For

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