The Listeners - Atmosphere

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The Listeners – Atmosphere

        This is a piece of work simply telling how the author embellishes and creates atmosphere.  I have given some examples taken from the poem ‘The Listeners’ by Walter De La Mere.

        In this poem, repetition is used; on the reader’s mind this creates an effect that the author wants to keep the statement in the readers mind, for example, the question ‘Is there anybody there?’ is repeated: this sounds like the poet is trying to give the message that the traveller speaking was very straight to the point and precise about what he said.  This is all part of creating the character.

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        Atmosphere is also created by use of well demonstrated description mainly through verbs and adjectives.  For example the phrases ‘the moonlit door’ and ‘stood thronging the faint moon beams on the dark stair’ both contain ‘moon’.  This could also come under repetition, but it is the meaning of creating gloominess in one’s image of the scene formed in the reader’s mind.  Such words along with other words like ‘shadowiness’ and ‘cropping the dark turf’’ create a certain murky image.  The description used in this poem is set in the night and is ghostly.

The word silence is ...

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