'The Listeners' Analysis

687 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Old English poetry

‘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...

Show More
Related

  • Knock By Daniel Beaty Figurative Language

    299 Words  | 1 Pages

    This poem had no rhymes or stanzas . But it does have repetition , the repetition is “knock knock”.This saying is repeated because the author and his father had a game , but when he went to jail it was no longer a a game for them.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Komanuyakaa Facing It

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly. His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Poem Black Walnut Tree by Mary Oliver

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem commences with a debate between the mother and daughter about what they should do with the black walnut tree. Lines 1-15 are written in straightforward, easy to comprehend language. In these lines the speaker addresses why they should sell the tree. The two women give reasons by stating that the tree is growing weak, and given the tree’s proximity to the house, a storm will cause it to collapse into their house and pose a threat to their lives. In addition, the speaker claims that “roots in the cellar drains,” meaning the roots of the tree are getting bigger and spreading into the foundation of the house, thereby producing another danger to the well-being of the family. Moreover, the tree is getting older (“the leaves are getting heavier”), and the walnuts produced by the tree are becoming to gather. The tone of the mother and daughter shows their need for money but also a reluctance to selling the tree; they are desperately in need of money, but they don’t seem to be in favor of selling the tree. Although the reasons provided by the family are credible, they are not wholehearted. This is because the women “talk slowly…...

    Read More

  • Through Deaf Eyes Documentary Analysis

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through Deaf Eyes is a documentary conveying various aspects of Deaf life, such as school, culture, and deaf history. It was filled with information and provides a great overview. Although my reactions varied throughout the movie, I really enjoyed it. The parts about how segregation impacted the black and white deaf communities interested me; I hadn’t considered how that would affect deaf culture.

    Read More

  • Descriptive Images in Two Hangovers by James Wright

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    As he slouches in bed, a description of the bare trees and an old woman gathering coal are given to convey to the reader an idea of the times and the author's situation. "All groves are bare," and "unmarried women (are) sorting slate from arthracite." This image operates to tell the reader that it is a time of poverty, or a "yellow-bearded winter of depression." No one in the town has much to live for during this time. "Cold trees" along with deadness, through the image of "graves," help illustrate the author's impression of winter. Wright seems to be hibernating from this hard time of winter, "dreaming of green butterflies searching for diamonds in coal seams." This conveys a more colorful and happy image showing what he wishes was happening; however he knows that diamonds are not in coal seams and is brought back to the reality of winter. He talks of "hills of fresh graves" while dreaming, relating back to the reality of what is "beyond the streaked trees of (his) window," a dreary, povern-strucken, and cold winter.

    Read More

  • Aaron Copland How We Listen To Music Analysis

    400 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “How we listen to music” by Aaron Copland from McGraw-Hill What to Listen for in Music (1988), the author has organised the listening process so that it had been split into three parts: the sensuous place, the expressive plane, and the sheerly musical plane. Aaron Copland thesis is that each plane of listening has its own function and advantages and knowing about them can help us enhance our listening experience. The purpose of Copland’s essay is to educate his readers on the three main ways people listen to music, and to inspire readers to listen in a more compound way. In the authors casual analysis, Copland tries to for sees his readers’ questions and objections at many points in the essay. He includes the thoughts of his readers to

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Podcast ' Three Miles '

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    Certainly, being born into a privileged family have their advantages. Unfortunately, for those who are born into poverty may struggle for their success, but it is not impossible. The podcast “Three Miles” is a great example of that. Comparatively, on the surface Melanie and Raquel are two individuals coming from the same unfortunate circumstances. Although, both girls were introduced to the same pen pal program their outcomes would travel different courses. Initially, the purpose of this program is to give students from poor neighborhoods a glimpse inside their wealthier counterpart’s lives, from another school. Raquel and Melanie’s backgrounds were similar, because they were afforded the same opportunities, but they turned out differently. Raquel was driven while Melanie is unambitious.

    Read More

  • Point Of View In Grendel And Beowulf

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    returns to the mead hall to listen to it. One night while he is listening, he hears

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Edgar Allen Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe establishes a chain of events to make the narrator uncertain about visiting his childhood friend. The narrator is invited by his friend Usher in a letter to visit. The first clue that tells the

    Read More

  • Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven And The Cask Of Amontillado

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Raven settles in on a statue above the door, and for some reason, our speaker 's first ask for his name, the Raven replies, with a single word: "Nevermore." Understandably surprised, the man asks more questions. The bird 's vocabulary was pretty limited, though; all it says is "Nevermore." Our narrator catches on to this rather slowly and asks more and more question. The poor speaker starts to lose his sanity. In the poem in line 1-6 the man is very drowsy and he when to slumber, then he thought he heard a knock on his door, He tries to calm himself down, telling himself that "tis some visitor. He opens the door, but there was nothing there. In line 7-12 it tells you it was in December, the fire chamber is getting low, Poe makes the reader feel creepy. He 's grieving for a lost woman. Someone named Lenore. This woman (His wife? His girlfriend?) Is among the angels and has left him behind, alone. He hopes for an end to the discomfort, what he calls "surcease from sorrow”. In line 13-18 it seems like the room and its creepy atmosphere might really be getting to our speaker. His heart starts to beat quicker, to calm himself down, he has to tell himself that the knocking sound he heard was just a

    Read More

  • Gothic Theme in Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, with an extensive and vivid description of the house and its vicinity, Poe prepares the scene for a dreadful, bleak, and distempered tale. The setting not only affects Poe’s narration of the story but influences the characters and their actions as well. Both the narrator and his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, question w...

    Read More

  • The Raven and The Haunted Palace by Edgar Allan Poe

    1479 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,” (“The Raven” 1). “The Raven” arguably one of the most famous poems by Edgar Allan Poe, is a narrative about a depressed man longing for his lost love. Confronted by a talking raven, the man slowly loses his sanity. “The Haunted Palace” a ballad by Poe is a brilliant and skillfully crafted metaphor that compares a palace to a human skull and mind. A palace of opulence slowly turns into a dilapidated ruin. This deterioration is symbolic of insanity and death. In true Poe style, both “The Raven” and “The Haunted Palace” are of the gothic/dark romanticism genre. These poems highlight sadness, death, and loss. As to be expected, an analysis of the poems reveals differences and parallels. An example of this is Poe’s use of poetic devices within each poem. Although different in structure, setting, and symbolism these two poems show striking similarities in tone and theme.

    Read More

  • Poetic Devices in Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout “Alone”, Poe uses various poetic devices to captivate his reader. For instance, Poe uses external rhyme throughout the poem, at the end of each pair of lines. Along with the use of rhyming, Poe also uses descriptive imagery. A m...

    Read More

  • Imagery In Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    He is almost sleeping while doing this. This creates a very powerful visual image. It epitomizes how the people left to grieve act. Many people stricken by death want to be left alone and bottle themselves up. The first few lines of the poem illustrate how deeply in sorrow the man is. This image should affect everyone. It should make the reader sympathize or even empathize with the man. Another main way he uses imagery is through the black bird or the raven. The presence of the bird is a bad omen. It is supposed to be followed by maleficent things. The bird is used to symbolize death figuratively and literally. The bird only says one word the entire poem. It repeats “nevermore.” This word can be interpreted multiple ways each time it is said. It is also possible that the bird is not talking. It is possible that the bird is an image created by

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    The setting takes place in the daylight of the woods. I felt that Frost set the poem in the woods because it helps reader imagine trees, leaves, and bushes. Therefore readers know that the speaker is alone without any road signs or knowledge of any direction on which road to take. The “yellow wood”(1) means that its somewhere in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. The “yellow” brings out a beautiful image of the autumn to readers. The “yellow wood” means there is a continuous decision one makes in li...

    Read More

More about 'The Listeners' Analysis

Open Document