I years had been from home, And now, before the door, I dared not open, lest a face I never saw before Stare vacant into mine And ask my business there. My business, -- just a life I left, Was such still dwelling there? I fumbled at my nerve, I scanned the windows near; The silence like an ocean rolled, And broke against my ear. I laughed a wooden laugh That I could fear a door, Who danger and the dead had faced, But never quaked before. I fitted to the latch My hand, with trembling care, Lest back the awful door should spring, And leave me standing there. I moved my fingers off As cautiously as glass, And held my ears, and like a thief Fled gasping from the house. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 35 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN TOMORROW by FELIX LOPE DE VEGA CARPIO ON THE 'VITA NUOVA' OF DANTE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI SONNET: 71 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 15. ON DOMESTIC MANNERS (UNFINISHED) by MARK AKENSIDE THE PLANTING by MARGARET LEE ASHLEY |