Thursday, June 28, 2012

How can I write a diary extract about arriving at the old house in the forest in "The Listeners"?

Walter de la Mare's poem "The Listeners" is written in the third person, with a narrative viewpoint limited to the perceptions and thoughts of "the Traveller" in the beginning, but expanding towards the end of the poem to include a description of the "listeners'" actions (or more precisely, inactions). Your main choice in writing this assignment is point of view.


The obvious point of view is that of the Traveller, but there are other possibilities. You could take a creative approach and write from the point of view of the Traveller's horse, who also is arriving at the house and probably does not enjoy a long journey in the dark through the forest, where he risks breaking an ankle or leg on tree roots or animal burrows. The horse is introduced as patiently waiting while the Traveller does his errand:



And his horse in the silence champed the grasses


Of the forest’s ferny floor:



You also could try writing from the viewpoint of the listeners or of the bird that flies out of the turret in the fifth line, who has a bird's eye view of the entire scene:



And a bird flew up out of the turret,


Above the Traveller’s head....



Whichever viewpoint you choose, you should write in the first person and recount the events in chronological order. 

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