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The Listeners: NBSE, AHSEC summary, MCQs, notes
Get here the summary, notes, questions, solutions, textual answers, pdf, and extras of the chapter The Listeners of NBSE Class 10 English and AHSEC Class 11 Alternative English. However, the given notes and solutions should only be used for references and should be modified or changed according to needs.
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Summary
The Listeners by Walter John de la Mare: Walter de la Mare’s ‘The Listeners’ is a stanza-long poem with thirty-six lines. On a moonlit night, a traveller comes on his horse and knocks at the door of a house. He demands that the door be opened, but receives no response to his call. There is a deathly silence within the house, and a bird flies out of the window above his head.
The traveller knocks at the door again but is once more met with silence. He stands all alone with his horse, which busies itself munching on the grass. His calls are heard by a group of spirits that dwell in the house. But they remain silent and motionless. Gradually, the traveller senses the eerie atmosphere and seems to come to the realisation that no one will open the door for him. He had probably come there to fulfil a promise that he must have made to an inmate of the house in the past. So he declares at the top of his voice: ‘Tell them I came, and no one answered, That I kept my word.’ But his words echoed inside the silent house. The man finally gives up and mounts his horse to leave. As his horse gallops away into the darkness, the sound of its hooves on the stone is heard by the inmates of the house.
The poem has the theme of the supernatural and mystery. The traveller doesn’t fully accept the existence of spirits in the house. It shows the futility and narrow-mindedness of modern-age rationality. The poet attempts to convey through the poem that there is a parallel world of spirits that is invisible to human eyes and which we must be ready to accept.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. What does the Traveller ask upon his first knock at the door?
A. Is anyone home? B. Can you hear me? C. Is there anybody there? D. Will you let me in?
Answer: C. Is there anybody there?
2. What is the horse doing while the Traveller knocks on the door?
A. Sleeping B. Champing the grasses C. Galloping away D. Making noises
Answer: B. Champing the grasses
3. What flies out of the turret above the Traveller’s head?
A. A bat B. A bird C. A butterfly D. A dragon
Answer: B. A bird
4. How does the Traveller feel when no one answers the door?
A. Angry B. Pleased C. Perplexed D. Joyful
Answer: C. Perplexed
5. Who are the silent listeners in the poem?
A. The Traveller’s friends B. The house’s former inhabitants C. Phantom listeners D. Animals in the forest
Answer: C. Phantom listeners
6. How many times does the Traveller knock on the door?
A. Once B. Twice C. Three times D. Four times
Answer: B. Twice
7. What is the Traveller’s horse doing under the leafy sky?
A. Resting B. Escaping C. Cropping the dark turf D. Drinking water
Answer: C. Cropping the dark turf
8. What does the Traveller say to convey he kept his promise?
A. “I have waited long enough.” B. “Tell them I came, and no one answered.” C. “I shall return tomorrow.” D. “My journey ends here.”
Answer: B. “Tell them I came, and no one answered.”
9. What reaction do the listeners have to the Traveller’s words?
A. They open the door. B. They respond loudly. C. They make no stir. D. They invite him in.
Answer: C. They make no stir
10. How does the silence react after the Traveller’s call?
A. It becomes louder. B. It surges softly backward. C. It disappears. D. It invites him in.
Answer: B. It surges softly backward
11. What signifies the Traveller’s departure?
A. The door opens. B. The sound of iron on stone. C. A farewell speech. D. The listeners’ applause.
Answer: B. The sound of iron on stone
12. What is the main theme of the poem?
A. Adventure B. Love C. Supernatural and mystery D. Warfare
Answer: C. Supernatural and mystery
Additional/extra questions and answers/solutions
1. What did the traveller say when he knocked on the door?
Answer: The stranger knocked on the door and asked if anyone was in the home.
2. What did the traveller do when he heard nothing back from that house?
Answer: Despite his obvious anxiety, the traveller stood there bewildered and immobile.
3. When did the traveller become perplexed?
Answer: It was the second time the traveller had tried knocking without success, and he was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake. He knocked twice, but no one answered, leaving him perplexed.
4. Who were the people who heard the traveller’s voice?
Answer: The ghosts in the house were the ones who heard the traveller.
5. Why did the traveller leave the location?
Answer: After knocking on the door several times, the traveller gave up and left. He was unnerved by the unusualness of the situation. Because of this strange condition, the traveller decided to leave the location.
6. Before he left the house, what was his message to the listeners?
Answer: He informed the listeners that he had delivered as promised. The traveller told the audience to deliver the news to the house’s inhabitants.
7. What was going through the traveller’s mind as he knocked on the door over and over again?
Answer: The traveller knocked on the door several times, but nobody answered. He seemed perplexed and frozen in place. Not only did he feel frustrated, but also restless, as his knocks became harder and harder. He was so dissatisfied that he had to leave.
8. What does the traveller mean by saying, “Tell them I came and no one answered, that I kept my word?”
Answer: The traveller went to a house in the middle of a dense forest and found it deserted. He knocked and knocked, but no one answered from inside. He had a weird feeling in his gut. He just stood there, bewildered, sensing the unsettling vibes. So he decided to leave, but not before proclaiming the fulfilment of his word. In fact, he sensed a “host of phantom listeners” surrounding him. As they were there to witness his arrival, he instructed them to let the homeowner know that he had come to make good on his promise but had been met with silence.
9. What message does the traveller leave because of going?
Answer: Before going, the traveller leaves the message that he kept his promise and visited the place and asked to respond but no one answered.
10. Why is the knocking on the door not answered?
Answer: The knocking on the door was not answered because there was no one in the house except the phantoms.
11. Who do you think are the inmates of the house?
Answer: I think the inmates of the house are phantoms who once used to dwell in it.
12. Why had the traveller gone there?
Answer: He had gone there because he had promised someone to visit the place.
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Can I get explanation of …. The Witch of Glentow byJames Stoddard Moore.
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Oh yes
5. What is the effect created by the words ‘The silence surged softly backwards’?this is the question that i need answer . any it was helpful and thanku
i got the answer i am sorry .. thank u
I learnt this poem at school and at seventy-six, can still recite it by heart. No indication is given – to my knowledge – that it refers to a particular era; I have, therefor, applied my own interpretation.
An officer of the British Army is returning home after the Battle of Waterloo. During the fighting, a brother officer was mortally wounded and pleaded with him to promise that, on his way he would call at his parental home and comfort them by saying his death had been swift. The traveler kept his promise but the occupants had previously deceased.
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Thought Provoking Reflection !
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