Read and interpret a wide range of poems

Think of as many silver things as you can in thirty seconds.

Slowly, silently, now the moon Walks the night in her silver shoon; This way, and that, she peers, and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees; One by one the casements catch Her beams beneath the silvery thatch; Couched in his kennel, like a log, With paws of silver sleeps the dog; From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep Of doves in silver feathered sleep A harvest mouse goes scampering by, With silver claws, and silver eye; And moveless fish in the water gleam, By silver reeds in a silver stream.

What images can you see in your head?

That it was a moonlit scene? That everything is still and calm? That it is set in the countryside?

There is some difficult language in this poem. In pairs, underline words that you don’t understand and discuss what they could mean.

shoon – shoes casements – windows Couched lying down Cote dove cote Moveless motionless

Fiercely, brightly, now the sun Climbs the sky in his golden cloak; This way, and that, he glares and sees Golden fruit upon golden trees;

What would the mood of the poem be? What time of day would it be? Would it be a town or country scene?

Read and interpret a wide range of poems

Walter de la Mare uses imagery and sound to write mysterious poems. Walter de la Mare was an English author and poet, probably best known for his children’s poetry. He was born in 1873 and died in 1956.

The Listeners was published in It uses literary words that are not often used today. ‘champed’,‘smote’, ‘spake’, ‘Ay’.

Why do they think the poem is called The Listeners and not The Traveller?

From what viewpoint is this poem told from?

The poem begins with the reader seeing things from the Traveller’s point of view and, at the end, leaves the reader with the listeners’ point of view: ‘... the silence surged softly backward, When the plunging hoofs were gone’.

The poem does not explain everything about the mysterious situation. Readers have to use their imagination to fill in the gaps.

‘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.

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.

Whose house is it? Who are ‘they’? Who is the Traveller and why did he come? Who are the listeners? Where does the Traveller ride away to?

To write a short recount of the story of the listeners. To write a diary entry from the perspective of the traveller. To write a short newspaper article of what happened at the old inn door.

Identify and explain poetic devices for creating images.

The Listeners is a poem that they have to listen to very carefully, because it uses sounds very effectively.

Rhythm Rhyme Alliteration Onomatopoeias Hard sounding words Soft Sounding words

To use figurative language to begin to write imagery poems.

I am going to say a word or phrase, on your mini – whiteboards, write the name of the literary device.

today we are going to begin to create our own poems about a mystery character, the poem will mainly focus on the description of the character, rather than attempting to tell a story.

This man can be found sitting on the platform of this train station. He sits and he waits and waits, always glancing towards the clock, but never getting on a train. He never speaks, he never smiles, he just waits and waits… What is he waiting for? Why?

Do we need to explain why he is waiting in our poem? Why might we leave out this piece of vital information?

With your partner, discuss what you think we should include in our success criteria for our poem.

Lines Begin a new line on your page for each line of the poem Stanzas Break up lines with a similar theme into stanzas. Rhythm and Rhyme Try and include some rhythm and rhyming words

Describe using adjectives, similes and powerful verbs. Use onomatopoeias.Use alliteration.

Use metaphors Use adverbial startersUse Prepositional starters.