The Listeners

Still, no one responds—either by answering the door or looking out a window. The narrator, or speaker, presents the story in third-person point of view, describing what is taking place outside the house and what is taking place inside the house. The rhyming lines are 2 and 4, 6 and 8, 10 and 12, 14 and 16, and so on. All the rhymes are masculine rather than feminine. In masculine rhyme, only the last syllable of one line rhymes with the last syllable of another line, as in lines 2 and 4 door and floor and 6 and 8 head and said.

In feminine rhyme, the last two syllables of one line rhyme with the last two syllables of another line, as in ringing and singing.

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The line lengths range from six to fourteen syllables. Most of the lines combine anapests and iambs , as in line 4: Iamb Of the FOR.. Some lines contain an incomplete final foot catalexis , as in line And a bird flew up out of the turret , Cylindrical tower rising from a building. Listening carefully; paying close attention. Feeding on; biting off 7.

Leaves silhouetted against the sky. Sound of horseshoes striking the pavement. When we are alone in a house or a desolate tract of country, many of us sometimes sense that a ghostly presence is observing us. Such moments tend to occur when the sun is down, the moon is up, and an eerie stillness surrounds us.

And he responds to them. The following is synopsis is presented in chronological order, although it is not presented that way in the novel. It is the year , and many world problems such as overpopulation, economic depression, resource depletion, racism, and crime are on the verge of being solved.

The Listeners - Poem by Walter de la Mare

Robert MacDonald is a year-old linguist and electrical engineer who is director of The Project, an attempt to listen for attempts at interstellar communication. For 20 years, he has been married to Maria, a Hispanic woman from Puerto Rico. MacDonald is obsessed with his job, which places strains on his marriage.

His wife, who has previously attempted suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills , slashes her wrists in a second attempt. Although MacDonald almost resigns to care for his wife, he does not. MacDonald is interviewed by a journalist, George Thomas. Thomas is skeptical of The Project's cost.

He also confronts MacDonald with the views of a new Christian sect, the Solitarians, led by the elderly preacher Jeremiah Jones. Jeremiah he prefers to use only his first name believes that humanity is alone in the universe, and that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence borders on heresy. That night, as Thomas visits the MacDonald household, The Project receives a message from the region of the star Capella in the constellation Auriga.

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The message is badly degraded by static, but appears to be early radio and audio-only television signals beamed back at the Earth from an alien race. MacDonald releases the news to the entire world. A year later, in , Jeremiah's movement has gained vast numbers of new followers. MacDonald meets with Jeremiah, who believes the repeated radio transmissions are a message from God that humanity is, indeed, alone.

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MacDonald reveals to Jeremiah that the static noise in the message included short bursts of pure sound "dots" , similar to Morse code , but no "dashes. MacDonald tells Jeremiah that once the message in the static is decoded, he wants Jeremiah to come to The Project's headquarters in Puerto Rico to see the message first-hand. After his arrival back in Puerto Rico, MacDonald has a revelation that leads to translation of the message. He urges Jeremiah to come, and the preacher does so the next day. MacDonald translates the encoded message for the first time in front of the Solitarian minister: The dots and silences are meant to be printed out.

When they do so, they form an image of a multi-armed bird-like creature with wings.

The Listeners

A circle envelops its head. Jeremiah initially believes the image represents an angel with a halo around its head. MacDonald and the scientists see it is an avian humanoid with vestigial wings and a space helmet around its head. News of the image spreads quickly. White wants to keep the news quiet, but realizes that too many people saw the image and that Jeremiah cannot be silenced. White flies to Puerto Rico with his son, John, an idealistic year-old who believes that racism and the world's problems cannot return.

MacDonald reveals that the printed image also shows the twin Capellan suns, reveals information about Capellan biology and reproduction, and points out the Capellan home world a moon orbiting a gas giant planet. Solitarian riots break out across the United States over the next several hours as people begin to fear alien invasion. The Chinese and Russian governments demand that President White not respond. White concludes that the only way to prevent further bloodshed is to shut down The Project and issue no reply. But John White realizes that the message reveals something else: One of the Capellan stars is turning into a red giant , and the Capellan race is dying.

The message was not a precursor to invasion; rather, it was an attempt to reach out to other life forms even as the race died.

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MacDonald tells President White that he can calm the rioters by revealing that the Capellans are dying, and that it will take 90 years for a message to reach Capella and return. White agrees to issue "The Answer" and to begin a propaganda campaign to counter the fear raised by Jeremiah's announcement. John White joins The Project.

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Robert MacDonald remained obsessed with his job. Although his son idolized him, Maria could no longer handle the strain and left with Bobby.