Analysis of The Dark House
Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869 – 1935
Where a faint light shines alone,
Dwells a Demon I have known.
Most of you had better say
"The Dark House," and go your way.
Do not wonder if I stay.
For I know the Demon's eyes
And their lure that never dies.
Banish all your fond alarms,
For I know the foiling charms
Of her eyes and of her arms,
And I know that in one room
Burns a lamp as in a tomb;
And I see the shadow glide,
Back and forth, of one denied
Power to find herself outside.
There he is who was my friend,
Damned, he fancies, to the end--
Vanquished, ever since a door
Closed, he thought, for evermore
On the life that was before.
And the friend who knows him best
Sees him as he sees the rest
Who are striving to be wise
While a Demon's arms and eyes
Hold them as a web would flies.
All the words of all the world,
Aimed together, and then hurled,
Would be stiller in his ears
Than a closing of still shears
On a thread made out of years.
But there lives another sound,
More compelling, more profound;
There's a music, so it seems,
That assuages and redeems,
More than reason, more than dreams.
There's a music yet unheard
By the creature of the word,
Though it matters little more
Than a wave-wash on the shore--
Till a Demon shuts a door.
So, if he be very still
With his Demon, and one will,
Murmurs of it may be blown
To my friend who is alone
In a room that I have known.
After that from everywhere
Singing life will find him there;
And my friend, again outside,
Will be living, having died.
Scheme | AABBB CCDDD EEFFF GGHHH IICCC JJKXK LLMMM NNHHH OOAAA PPFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101 1010111 1111101 0110111 1110111 111011 0111101 1011101 1110101 1010101 0111011 1011001 011011 1011101 10110111 1111111 1110101 1010101 111110 1011101 0011111 1111101 1110111 101101 1110111 1011101 1010011 1110011 1010111 1011111 1110101 1010101 1010111 11001 1110111 1010101 1010101 1110101 1011101 1010101 1111101 1110011 1011111 1111101 0011111 101110 1011111 0110111 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,463 |
Words | 292 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 54 Views
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