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.
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 used quite a lot. It has an overcoming theme also creating a sense of eeriness. For example ‘and his horse in the silence champed the grasses.’ This constructs an image in the mind, giving the feel of what the surrounding area would be like, for example: in this case it gives the image that the traveller and the horse are alone in the middle of a forest enclosed within lots of trees, all because of the silence.
The time of day the poem is set makes a difference e.g. in the daytime while everything can be seen the story/ poem doesn’t seem to be as spooky as when it is set in the night. This poem is set in the night and definitely tries to produce an image of the scene being chilling.
Such vocabulary as ‘echoing’ gives the reader a sense of hearing as well as picturing an image. A person can really get a sense of being at the place of the incident.
