The Listeners
By Walter de la Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
’Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:—
‘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.
Hi Alan and thanks for the reply.
As you say, it is a haunting poem and one I'm very fond of. I am somewhat a fan of the works of Walter de la Mare.
It has been very quiet in DV and I thought posting this particular work somehow seemed appropriate, even if only from the perspective of providing an entertaining and (possibly) stimulating 'interlude', especially for those who may not be familiar with his poetry and stories...well worth investigating, IMHO.
Other than that, we're not ready to ride back into the forest yet😉...As with most things in life, including here at Dreamsville, we'll keep moving forwards,
and see what happens..👍
Cheers, Alan.
That's a very haunting poem, Tourist. I hope you're not ready to ride back into the forest just yet. I know it's been quiet times here in Dreamsville lately, but I'm sure there's more to come.
I appreciate all of you who keep Dreamsville current, and interesting. Bill does a phenomenal job of keeping the music coming, and he has a great team keeping Dreamsville available to us all. And, of course, Bill's input is priceless.
I used to visit Rooms With Brittle Views and Permanent Flame, but never posted. Both sites were a little intimidating to me. When Dreamsville first opened, on the heals of Permanent Flame, I was thrilled. I signed up and began to post. In the early days I posted often, but in recent years, I've lost some of my zeal to interact with others, not just here at Dreamsville, but in everyday life as well. I guess after years of running my mouth, I realized most people weren't really listening anyway.
I do visit Dreamsville several times a day to keep up with the music, and also to see what the Nelsonians are discussing. I'm going to try and be more active going forward, but I'm really not very interesting or entertaining, so I guess this is more a threat than a promise.
Thanks for the posting the poem, Tourist. And, let's keep Dreamsville alive. 😎