Poetry Friday: Someone, by Walter de la Mare

In 1997, for my first library Halloween storytime ever, I used the poem "Someone," by Walter de la Mare and had the audience tap on the floor with their knuckles while I said the words. I tried to use poetry in later storytimes, but I never felt as if I had the knack for sharing it properly. When I started to learn guitar, I realized that I wanted to set poems to music so that sharing them would come more naturally to me. I've already done that with Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Swing," and Lewis Carroll's "The Lobster Quadrille." I enjoy singing Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken and Nod," too.

I've wanted to set "Someone" to music for some time now, and finally have a simple melody to play. Now, the question is, "Will this song be appealing to children?" I like to bring new stories and songs to Third Place Books, as I've been performing there almost every month, and sometimes get the same crowds of people. One of the things I miss about having a library job is working with groups who come in on a regular basis.

Here is my video for Walter de la Mare's "Someone":



And here is the poem itself, published in Peacock Pie in 1913:

“Someone” by Walter de La Mare

Someone 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.

Since I have the chutzpah to make this poem a Song of the Week, here are the chords I used:


Click on the image in order to enlarge it

The Poetry Friday roundup is at Becky's Book Reviews today.