Lesson video

Hi there.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth, and I'm really looking forward to working with you today in this reading lesson.

We're going to be focusing on the poem, "The Listeners," which is written by Walter de la Mare.

We're going to be exploring the poem, the poet, and the themes in more detail.

I hope you're looking forward to learning more about poetry.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today is, "I can reflect on my first impressions of a poem." The keywords are, my turn, your turn, poet, poem, Walter de la Mare, and supernatural.

Let's try those once more.

Poet, poem, Walter de la Mare, and supernatural.

Well Done.

A poet is a writer who uses verse to convey emotions.

A poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings, or ideas.

Walter de la Mare is an English poet.

His poetry often explores themes of imagination and fantasy.

And finally, supernatural refers to phenomena or beings beyond the ordinary world, often involving magic, ghosts, or mythical creatures.

Don't worry if you are unsure about any of the keywords.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about our first impressions of the poem.

That's our first thoughts or ideas that come to mind when we've read it.

We're going to begin the lesson by learning a little bit more about the poet, Walter de la Mare, as well as the time that he was writing within, and then we're going to read through the poem and have a think about our first thoughts and ideas about it.

Let's get started by finding more about the poet, Walter de la Mare.

A poet is someone who does all of these things.

They create poems, they write and sometimes perform poetry out loud.

They express ideas, thoughts, and feelings through the words that they choose.

They use language to express themselves in a creative or artistic way.

They draw inspiration from the world around them and their own personal experiences.

And they love using and speaking language.

They love playing around with it and using words that have multiple meanings.

You'll find a few in this poem today.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Which of the following are correct? A poet can control how a reader engages with their work, writes and performs poetry, guarantees all readers will understand their work in the same way, or use this language to express themselves? Which of the following are true about a poet? There may be more than one answer here.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

The answers are B and D, a poet writes and performs poetry and they use language in lots of creative ways to express themselves.

Poets can't guarantee that readers will understand their work in the same way and they can't tell readers how to engage with their work.

Once it's published, it's out for anybody to read and make sense of it from their own perspectives.

Let's find out a little bit more about Walter de la Mare.

Walter de la Mare is an English poet, short story writer, and novelist.

He lived from 1873 to 1956.

Let's have a look at a timeline, showing some of the important events around his lifetime.

In 1837, we know that Queen Victoria becomes queen.

Then, in 1914 to 1918 was the First World War.

And from 1939 to 1945, the Second World War.

Walter's life bridges some of these key events.

I wonder, knowing when Walter de la Mare was alive, what do you think he wrote about in his poems? Have a think and discussion with your talk partner.

Refer back to the timeline and what you know about the Victorian Era already.

Pause the video now while you discuss.

Fantastic discussion.

Let's find out what he enjoyed writing about.

While Walter de la Mare wrote during periods that included significant historical events, like the First and Second World Wars, much of his work tends to explore themes of imagination, childhood, and the mysterious or supernatural.

While notice is one of our keywords, Walter wrote extensively for children and for adults, so he had a very large audience.

His texts include "Out of the Deep," "Short Stories for Children," and "The Surreal and Supernatural Stories of Walter de la Mare." He liked writing and using these themes across both of his texts for adults and for children.

Here's our next check for understanding.

True or false? Walter de la Mare focused many of his poems on the theme of war.

Was that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

It's false.

And I like you to justify your answer.

Is it because, A, Walter preferred to write poems about fantasy and the supernatural, or B, Walter de la Mare was a prolific writer, producing numerous poems throughout his career.

Which one best links to the above statement? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

Although Walter de la Mare produced lots of stories and poems for lots of audiences, this discusses the themes around his work, which we know involve the supernatural, so it must be A.

Well done if you got it right.

Here are some additional facts about Walter de la Mare.

Walter was born on April the 25th, 1873 in Charlton, which is in Kent.

This is very close to London.

You can see on the map to the right.

Walter was largely educated at home by his father, James Edward de la Mare, who was a principal, that's a bit like a head teacher, at St.

Paul's Cathedral Choir School in London.

Walter married Constance Elfrida Ingpen in 1899, and they had four children.

Throughout his life, Walter de la Mare had a deep love for nature and often incorporated natural and supernatural elements into his writings.

So, perhaps he took in things that he saw around him, as well as things that he imagined too.

Walter's poetry is often compared to other famous poets like Thomas Hardy and William Blake.

All three poets wrote poems that explored magical and mysterious themes, which were dream-like in quality.

In his later years, Walter became financially secure.

This means he was able to earn enough from his writing that he was able to just write full time.

He continued to write and receive recognition for his contributions to literature.

He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1935.

An Order of Merit is special recognition within a field, like literature or the sciences.

It's awarded by royalty.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Can you match the following information about Walter de la Mare's life with the year in which they occurred? We've got the events on the left-hand side and the years on the right.

Pause the video now whilst you match them up.

Fantastic work.

The earliest year must be the year in which he was born, so that's 1873, and he's born in Charlton in Kent.

I know that he married his wife, I think in 1899, and the Order of Merit would usually be awarded for a significant body of work.

That means that he'll have produced lots of writing.

So, I think that the Order of Merit must be 1935, which means he married his wife, Constance Elfrida Ingpen, in 1899.

Well done if you've got them all correct.

Before we focus on the poem itself, we can consider questions that we'd like to know about the poet.

We can focus on a range of Walter de la Mare's life, including his early life and childhood, his education, influences that he might have had for his poetry, his writing style, that's perhaps how he writes, but also the writing itself, and also any themes that are present in his work, as well as any awards that he received in recognition.

An example from Aisha is, "I wonder what motivated Walter de la Mare to write his poems." I wonder, can you think of a question that you'd like to ask Walter de la Mare? We'll be exploring this during our main task.

Have a discussion with your partner to come up with at least one question you'd like to find out.

Pause video now whilst you complete.

Well done.

Perhaps use it as one of your questions for later on.

Here's our next check for understanding.

When researching about a poet's life, readers can only ask questions about their influences.

That's things that influence them to do their writing.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

There are lots of things you can research about a poet, not just their influences, so it must be false.

I now like you to justify your answer.

Is it because, A, readers can ask questions about a wide variety of topics, including a poet's early life, their education and writing style, or B, a poet's influences can explain reasons as to why the poem was written and other literature that inspired its creation.

Which justification best links to the original statement above? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Fantastic work.

It's A, readers can ask questions about a wide range of different topics, including the poet's, early life, their education, and writing style.

We can, of course, look at a poet's influences on their own writing and themes around a poem.

However, this is just one aspect that we can research about a poet's life.

There are many more.

In our first task, I'd like you to think about what you want to find out about Walter de la Mare based on what we've just read so far.

What questions would you like to find out the answers to? I'd like you to write down three questions.

These could be linked to his early life, his education, influences that he had for his poetry and writing, his writing style, and also any themes that occurred in his work and any awards that he received recognition for.

You can use the question stems, why, how, what, can, where, and are there, to support you.

Pause the video now while she complete the task.

Well done.

Here are some possible questions that I wanted to find out about Walter de la Mare.

I wonder if they're the same as yours.

Why did he learn at home with his father and not in school? How did Walter de la Mare write his poems? How did he come up with his ideas and a structure around them? I wondered what his most famous poem was.

Is it the one that we are focusing on during our lessons? Can we hear any recordings of Walter de la Mare reading his poems aloud? Hearing a poet perform their own work is always worthwhile.

Where did he find his inspiration for his poems? What inspired him to write? And are there any other poems by other poets that link to his poetry? Did he take influences from others, like Thomas Hardy or William Blake perhaps? If you've got time, perhaps you'd like to research some of the answers to these questions to deepen your understanding and engagement with the poem.

We're now going to move on to forming our first impressions of the poem, "The Listeners." This will involve a reading of the poem for the first time.

We're going to exploring one of Walter de la Mare's most famous poems titled "The Listeners." It was written and published in 1912.

"The Listeners" tells a mysterious and atmospheric story.

It's a narrative poem, and engages the reader with its sense of wonder and intrigue.

Intrigue is a bit like mystery.

The poem is known for its lyrical quality and the vivid imagery that allows readers to visualise the scenes.

We'll be focusing a lot more on imagery as we go on.

It's about the images that come into our imagination when we read the poem.

The themes explored in "The Listeners" are timeless and have a universal quality.

That means that they can be understood by lots of people in lots of different ways.

The poem's relevance extends beyond its original context, making it accessible to readers across different time periods.

That means that it can be written in 1912, but we can still reflect on it now in present day.

We're now going to read and explore the first eight lines of the poem.

"The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare.

"'Is there anybody there?' said the Traveller, Knocking at the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champed the grasses Of the forest's ferny floor: And a bird flew up outta the turret, Above the Traveler's head: And he smote upon the door again a second time; 'Is there anybody there?' he said." I'd like you to read through the first eight lines too.

Don't worry if there's any new or unfamiliar language.

We'll be exploring that throughout the lessons.

Pause the video now whilst you read the first eight lines.

I wonder what are your initial thoughts about these lines? Who does the reader meet and how is the setting described? Have a discussion with your talk partner about these two questions.

You can, of course, refer to the poem through your discussion.

Pause the video now while she'll answer the questions.

Great discussion.

An example might be like Jun's.

He says that we are introduced to the Traveller.

He's got a capital T to show it's the name of a specific person.

"He's been riding a horse.

The Traveller is knocking on the door of a mysterious building." Let's continue exploring the poem's narrative by reading the next 16 lines.

"But no one descended to the Traveller; No head from the leaf-fringe sill Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes, Where he stood perplexed and still.

But only a host of phantom listeners That dwelt in the lone house then Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight To that voice from the world of men: Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair, That goes down to the empty hall, hearkening in an air stirred and shaken by the lonely Traveler's call.

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;" I wonder if you can reread the same 16 lines.

It really helps to understand the poem more by performing it out loud.

Pause a video now whilst you do so.

Great work.

I wonder, what are your initial thoughts about this section? You might like to consider the following questions.

How might the traveller be feeling? How do you know? And how would you feel if you were in his position? Have a discussion with your talk partner.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the questions.

Well done.

Let's have a look at an example from Lucas.

He says that the traveller is confused.

He's standing still wondering why no one is answering the door.

I'd be quite nervous in his position.

It's eerily quiet.

The poem mentions lots about the silence and no one answering.

I think I'd be feelings very similar to Lucas too, don't you? Let's now read and explore the final 12 lines of the poem.

"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 shadows 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." That's the end of the poem, "The Listeners," by Walter de la Mare.

Can you repeat the final 12 lines too? Pause the video now whilst you read them aloud.

Well done.

We're now going to reflect on the poem as a whole.

What are your initial thoughts having read the poem for the first time? You might like to discuss what you felt the poem was about, or perhaps some of the themes that you might have noticed.

Pause video now while you discussed with your talk partner.

Well done.

Let's have a look at an example from Sam.

They say, "I'm curious about who their listeners are.

They're described like phantoms. Perhaps the setting which the Traveller is visiting is haunted?" I got that feeling too on my first reading.

Perhaps we can explore it and find out a little bit more in other lessons.

In our final task, I'd like you to create a mind map about your initial thoughts and questions that you have about a poem.

This will get us to really engage with it in a more meaningful way.

In the middle of your mind map, you can write initial thoughts about Walter de la Mare's poem, "The Listeners." You can use the sentence stems, I wonder if or I think that, I noticed or I am intrigued about, and I believe or I predict that, to make some observations.

You can, of course, refer to the poem whilst you're doing this.

Pause the video now whilst you complete your mind map.

Well done.

There are lots of things that you might have noticed and drawn out from the poem in your first impression.

Here are just a few examples.

You might have asked, why is the Traveller journeying so far? What are his intentions? Why is he visiting this house that seems to be left alone and isolated? You might be intrigued about the phantoms. Are they perhaps ghosts? You might have noticed that the atmosphere of the setting is silent and still.

It gives an air of foreboding as though something's about to happen.

You might have wondered what the promise was that the traveller made.

Do you remember, he spoke to the phantom listeners and said that he'd kept his word.

I wonder what that word was.

Perhaps we'll find out some of the answers and confirm your initial thoughts as we continue exploring the poem in future lessons.

I wonder if yours will all be answered.

In today's lesson, we've been exploring our first impressions and engaging with the poem, "The Listeners," by Walter de la Mare.

We found out that Walter de la Mare lived from 1873 to 1956, and is an English poet, short story writer, and novelist.

By asking questions about the poet, readers can deepen their understanding and engagement with the poem.

"The Listeners" was first published in 1912.

It's a narrative poem that has themes of the supernatural.

Finally, by noting down initial thoughts about the poem, readers can make connections to their own lives and experiences and engage with it in more depth.

I've really enjoyed exploring the poem with you.

I'm looking forward to finding out more about it and its themes and your ideas about it too.

Well done for all your hard work.