Some One by Walter de la Mare

Some one came knocking

At my wee, small door;

Someone came knocking;

I'm sure-sure-sure;

I listened, I opened,

I looked to left and right,

But nought there was a stirring

In the still dark night;

Only the busy beetle

Tap-tapping in the wall,

Only from the forest

The screech-owl's call,

Only the cricket whistling

While the dewdrops fall,

So I know not who came knocking,

At all, at all, at all.

    Some One by Walter de la Mare is actually quite a simple poem. The story is straightforward: a person goes to answer a knock at the door but no one is there. This initial simplicity though is one of my favorite things about it. The rhythm and feelings this poem provides insinuates a deeper meaning than is obvious at first. The challenge of this poem was to pinpoint those feelings to discover that meaning. Overall, the poem gives the sense of loneliness and possibly paranoia. The person thinks they hear something, but find that they are alone in a collective forest of sounds. This slow realization of lonesomeness is especially seen in the last two lines of the poem that read, “So I know not who came knocking,/At all, at all, at all.” This repetition reflects back to the earlier repetition in the first part of the poem and furthers the feeling of isolation. I have even interpreted this poem as loneliness is the “person” who is knocking on the door and, when the narrator opens it, the outside exemplifies it with all the distant sounds of the forest.

        Walter de la Mare is most known for his children’s poetry as well as his horror stories. I think this poem is a marriage between the two. The rhyme and rhythm of this poem feels like the typical child’s poem, but the paranoia and darkness of the poem gives the impression of something more menacing. Despite the childish structure, I do think this poem can relate the most to adults since the meaning shown is one that is much darker than is seen at first glance. To me, poems are all about the feelings that they give the reader, and I think that is the reason I liked this poem so much.