Listeners literature class 7D

A. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes, / Where he stood perplexed and still.

·         a. Who leaned over and looked into his grey eyes?

No one leaned over or looked into his eyes; the poem states that no head from the leaf-fringed sill leaned over.

·         b. Why was he perplexed?

The Traveller was perplexed because he received no answer or response to his repeated calls at the house.

·         c. Whose eyes are being referred to?

The eyes of the lone Traveller are being referred to.

·         d. Why was he still?

He was still as he stood waiting quietly in the moonlight, listening for any sign of life or response from inside the empty-seeming house.

 

2. "But only a host of phantom listeners / That dwelt in the lone house then"

·         a. Where were the listeners?
The listeners were in the lone house (the empty, abandoned house).

·         b. What did the listeners do?
They stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight, hearkening to the Traveller’s voice.

·         c. What does the word "host" suggest about the listeners?
The word "host" suggests that there were many listeners, but they were not human—they were phantom or ghostly presences.

·         d. Why didn’t the listeners answer?
They didn’t answer because they were phantom listeners, not living beings. They were silent, unseen, and incapable of responding.

 

 

3. Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight / To that voice from the world of men:

·         a. Who stood listening?

The host of phantom listeners inside the house stood listening.

·         b. Who was being heard?

The lone Traveller from the living world was being heard.

·         c. What does the 'world of men' mean?

It refers to the physical world of living, breathing human beings, as opposed to the supernatural or ghostly world.

·         d. Which other world is referred to in these lines?

The spiritual or ghostly world of the phantom listeners is referred to.

B. Answer these questions.

1. What is the setting of the poem?
   The setting is a moonlit, isolated forest with a lone, empty house. The atmosphere is eerie, silent, and mysterious, with the Traveller knocking on the door of the house.

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2. What did the traveller do when he reached the house?
   The Traveller knocked on the door and called out, "Is there anybody there?" twice, but received no answer.

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3. What is the atmosphere of the poem like? How is it developed?
   The atmosphere is haunting, mysterious, and supernatural. It is developed through:
• The silence of the forest and the house.
• The moonlight casting an eerie glow.
• The phantom listeners who are unseen but present.
• The Traveller’s repeated calls going unanswered, creating a sense of isolation and unease.

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4. Why did no one answer the traveller’s call?
   No one answered because the house was empty of living beings. The only "listeners" were phantom or ghostly presences, who could not respond.

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5. What message did the traveller leave behind before he left the house?
   The Traveller left the message:
   "Tell them I came, and no one answered, / That I kept my word."

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6. How do the lines on the bird and the horse contribute to the effect of the poem?
• The bird flying out of the turret adds a sudden, startling movement, breaking the stillness and heightening the eerie atmosphere.
• The horse cropping the grass and moving in the silence contrasts with the Traveller’s stillness, emphasizing the loneliness and abandonment of the scene.

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7. Read these lines from the poem: "And he felt in his heart their strangeness, / Their stillness answering his cry..." Did the listeners answer the traveller? What does the poet mean by these lines?
• No, the listeners did not answer the Traveller.
• The poet means that the silence and stillness of the phantom listeners felt like a response to the Traveller’s cry. Their strangeness and lack of movement were the only "answer" he received, deepening the mystery.

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8. What questions remain unanswered after reading the poem? What is the effect of having unanswered questions? What do you think could be some possible answers?
• Unanswered Questions:
1. Who are the phantom listeners?
2. Why was the Traveller at the house?
3. What was the purpose of his visit?
4. Why did he feel compelled to leave a message for no one?
• Effect of Unanswered Questions:
  The unanswered questions create a sense of mystery, suspense, and unease. They leave the reader pondering the supernatural and the unknown, which is a hallmark of de la Mare’s style.
• Possible Answers:
1. The phantom listeners could be ghosts, spirits, or echoes of the past haunting the house.
2. The Traveller might have been fulfilling a promise or delivering a message to someone who once lived there.
3. The house could be a symbol of death or the afterlife, and the Traveller is a visitor from the living world.
4. The poem might suggest that some promises or messages are meant for the unseen or the dead, and the Traveller’s act is symbolic of human attempts to communicate with the unknown.