The First Poem I Ever Read...

The Literary Corner is a place to discuss your favourite books and authors and to add your own poems and stories.

Moderators: DJKeefy, 4u Network

Post Reply
User avatar
Zooropa
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 2509
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:11 pm
Location: Leicester
Has thanked: 775 times
Been thanked: 976 times
Gender:
Contact:
United Kingdom

The First Poem I Ever Read...

Post by Zooropa »

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.


The Listeners : Walter De La Mare


User avatar
Bullet Magnet
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 2530
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:38 am
Location: Le Manège Enchanté
Has thanked: 5362 times
Been thanked: 1475 times
Contact:

Re: The First Poem I Ever Read...

Post by Bullet Magnet »

I love his works, spellbinding to a child... :cool:
There's a time for everyone, if they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn.
Mad Dilys
Royal V.I.P
Royal V.I.P
Posts: 2138
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 7:19 am
Location: Luxor/UK/Ibiza
Has thanked: 2606 times
Been thanked: 1220 times
Spain

Re: The First Poem I Ever Read...

Post by Mad Dilys »

Thank you Zooropa, I haven't read any Walter de La Mare for years, and yet he was my first favourite poet too.

I shall take great pleasure in renewing his acquaintance. 8)
Smile! It confuses people
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post
  • A poem
    by Horus » » in Literary Corner
    1 Replies
    1145 Views
    Last post by newcastle
  • A Cleaning Poem.
    by WIZARD » » in Literary Corner
    0 Replies
    657 Views
    Last post by WIZARD
  • Highway. 109--poem.
    by WIZARD » » in Literary Corner
    2 Replies
    1157 Views
    Last post by WIZARD
  • My little Tea Pot (poem) revisited.
    by WIZARD » » in Literary Corner
    7 Replies
    1203 Views
    Last post by WIZARD
  • THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN. - poem
    by WIZARD » » in Literary Corner
    2 Replies
    601 Views
    Last post by LovelyLadyLux