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‘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

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.

—Walter de la Mare

About the Poet
Walter John de la Mare (1873–1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered
for his works for children and for his poem The Listeners. He also wrote some subtle psychological horror stories, amongst them
Seaton’s Aunt and Out of the Deep. His 1921 novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction and
his post-war Collected Stories for Children won the 1947 Carnegie Medal for British children’s books. In 1908, de la Mare was
awarded a yearly government pension of £100 and he devoted himself entirely to writing. De la Mare’s first successful book
was The Listeners; the title poem is one of his most anthologised pieces.

Time to answer

A. Choose the correct option.

1. What is the significance of the moonlit setting in the poem?

signifies a cheerful and lively atmosphere

creates a mysterious and quiet ambience

represents a stormy and turbulent weather

symbolises the passage of time

2. What do the actions of the Traveller’s horse and the bird contribute to the scene?

add a touch of humour to the situation

intensify the feeling of loneliness and isolation

show that animals are afraid of the moonlight

emphasise the Traveller’s anger and frustration
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