'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.
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Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The Listeners", appears in The Listeners and Other Poems, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Bartlett (b. 1949), "The Listeners", 2024 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "The Listeners", 1976 [ voice and piano ], from From a Watchtower, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norman Dello Joio (1913 - 2008), "The Listeners", published 1960 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The Listeners", published 1951 [ TTBB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Bertram Lander , "The Listeners" [ high voice and piano ], from Flores de mi primavera [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robin Stephenson , "The Listeners", published 1967 [ voices, recorder, percussion, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. J. White , "The Listeners", published 1951 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Douglas Young (b. 1947), "The Listeners", 1967, published 1973 [ soprano, SS chorus, reciter, chamber orchestra ], cantata ; note: choreographed for ballet in 1969 by Geoffrey Cawley [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-13
Line count: 36
Word count: 250