A HOUSE ringed round with trees and in the trees One lancet where the crafty light slides through; Comely, forsaken, unhusbanded, Blind-eyed and mute, unlamped and smokeless, yet Safe from the humiliation of death. The porch is mossy, the roof-shingles are mossy, Green furs the window-sills and beards the drip-stones, A staring board, @3To Let,@1 leans thigh-deep in Grave-clothes of grass; and no one sees or cares. One day, may be, a school will open here, Or hospital, or home for fallen girls— A fallen house for fallen girls, may be. Laughter will shrill these silences away, Break every pane of peace with foolishness, And all the waiting, anxious memories Abashed will slink through the trees away, away. So calm a house should not be given to noise, Nor scornful feet. But old men here should come, When apprehension first shall haunt their eyes. Fire should warm all the rooms and smoke the chimneys, Creeper renew its blood on the cold stones, A porch light shine on the rain-sodden path And watery ruts; and wise men here should find Asylum from the thought and fear of Death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIXTEEN MONTHS by CARL SANDBURG THE LADY'S 'YES' by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING MY LADY'S PLEASURE by ROBERT GRAHAM NO COMING TO GOD WITHOUT CHRIST by ROBERT HERRICK THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES FRAGMENTS OF A LOST GNOSTIC POEM OF THE 12TH CENTURY by HERMAN MELVILLE STEEL MILL by LOUIS UNTERMEYER |