English : Term 1 Unit 2 : Poem : The Listeners
GLOSSARY
1. champed – bit and chewed upon noisily
2. ferny – consisting of flowerless plants (ferns)
3. turret – a small tower that projects from the wall of a building
4. smote – knocked loudly
5. sill – a horizontal piece of timber beneath a window or a door
6. perplexed – confused
7. thronging – crowding
8. hearkening –Â listening attentively
A.  Read the poem aloud in pairs.
B.  Find a line from the poem to match the pictures given below and write it in the blank.
C.  Read the statements and say True or False. Quote lines from the poem to support your answer.
D. Answer the following questions.
1. Who is the speaker?
The poet is the speaker.
2.What was the horse doing?
The horse was champing the grass.
3. Who were the listeners?
A host of phantom were the listeners.
4. How did the Traveller feel when nobody answered?
The traveller was perplexed. He stood still.
5. What kind of feeling does the poem create?
The poem creates a feeling of mystery.
E. Work in pairs and answer the questions given below.
1. Of the forest’s ferny floor.
Pick out the words alliterated.
forest’s ferny, floor
2. Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.
head / said, sill / still, then / men, hall / call
3. Write the words which are used to create a sense of mystery.
Moonlit door, in the silence champed the grass,
above the Traveller’s head,
No one descended to the traveller,
No head from the leaf-fringed sill,
he stood perplexed and still,
a host of phantom listeners,
in the lone house,
quiet of the moonlight,
faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
empty hail,
air stirred and shaken.
WRITING
F.  Discuss in groups. Draw the haunted house described in the poem and write a paragraph about it in your own words.
Answer:
The haunted house was standing alone in the forest. The moonlight shone on its door, birds lived undisturbed in the small tower on its wall and climbers grew on its window sill. The dark steps lead to the empty hall. No one lived in the house for a long.