Describe the house and its surroundings in the poem "The Listeners."

"The Listeners" is a delightfully eerie poem by Walter de la Mare that describes a human traveler who, hoping to keep a mysterious promise he's made, knocks on the door of a spooky abandoned house.

The most important thing we know about this place is that it's silent and still. The speaker repeats that information throughout the poem. Here's what else we know about the house and its surroundings:

1. There's moonlight shining on the front door:

‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,

Knocking on the moonlit door;

2. The house is located in a forest where there are ferns on the ground:

And his horse in the silence champed the grasses

Of the forest’s ferny floor:

3. The house has a turret, which is a small round tower that may or may not contain a spiraling staircase:

And a bird flew up out of the turret,

Above the Traveller’s head:

4. There are leaves around the window sill, indicating that no one is actively keeping the exterior of the house clean:

But no one descended to the Traveller;

No head from the leaf-fringed sill

5. The house is empty inside, but in a sense it's full, too, because there are lots of silent spirits in there. Also, the house stands alone (with no neighbors). It's at least two stories high, because there's a staircase inside, and the moonlight is shining in a little bit on that staircase:

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,

6. The trees in the forest surrounding the house are quite tall, because their leaves seem to be part of the sky:

’Neath the starred and leafy sky;

7. The rooms inside the house are large enough to cause the traveler's voice to echo:

Though every word he spake 

Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house

8. Finally, the property features some kind of stone walkway or driveway outside, because as the traveler leaves on horseback, the animal's iron horseshoes make a distinct sound against the stone:

Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,

And the sound of iron on stone....