'The Listeners' Analysis

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‘The Listeners’ by Walter De La Mare is a narrative poem. It tells us about a traveller that comes to a house and knocks but nobody answers. He tries knocking a few more times but leaves. There are 36 lines in this poem and every other word rhymes. We know that the poem is set in a dark forest as the word ‘forest’ is used at the start of the poem. There are quite a few ancient words which are used throughout the poem. We do not use these words now, so we know that the poem is set a long time ago. The poet also describes a ‘turret’ which is a small bird tower. Only houses that are very old have these near their front door so the poet is suggesting that this poem is from a long time ago and the house is old. The Traveller has come from a long distance, but we are not told where he has come from or who he is. The Traveller knocks a few times. The poet builds up suspense every time he knocks. When the Traveller knocks the first time, no one answers, but a bird flies up from the turret. This gives the reader a creepy idea that maybe the house is mysterious. The Traveller knocks a secon...

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