The House of Hate
Mine enemy builded well, with the soft blue hills in sight;But betwixt his house and the hills I builded a house for spite:And the name thereof I set in the stone-work over the gate,With a carving of bats and apes; and I called it the House of Hate.
And the front was alive with masks of malice and of despair;Horned demons that leered in stone, and women with serpent hair;That whenever his glance would rest on the soft hills far and blue,It must fall on mine evil work, and my hatred should pierce himthrough.
And I said, “I will dwell herein, for beholding my heart’s desireOn my foe”; and I knelt, and fain had brightened the hearth withfire;But the brands they would hiss and die, as with curses a strangledman,And the hearth was cold from the day that the House of Hate began.
And I called at the open door, “Make ye merry, all friends of mine,In the hall of my House of Hate, where is plentiful store and wine.We will drink unhealth together unto him I have foiled and fooled!”And they stared and they passed me by; but I scorned to be therebyschooled.
And I ordered my board for feast; and I drank, in the topmost seat,Choice grape from a curious cup; and the first it was wonder-sweet;But the second was bitter indeed, and the third was bitter andblack,And the gloom of the grave came on me, and I cast the cup to wrack.
Alone, I was stark alone, and the shadows were each a fear;And thinly I laughed, but once, for the echoes were strange to hear;And the wind in the hallways howled as a green-eyed wolf might cry,And I heard my heart: I must look on the face of a man, or die!
So I crept to my mirrored face, and I looked, and I saw it grown(By the light in my shaking hand) to the like of the masks of stone;And with horror I shrieked aloud as I flung my torch and fled,And a fire-snake writhed where it fell; and at midnight the sky wasred.
And at morn, when the House of Hate was a ruin, despoiled of flame,I fell at mine enemy’s feet, and besought him to slay my shame;But he looked in mine eyes and smiled, and his eyes were calm andgreat:“You rave, or have dreamed,” he said; “I saw not your House ofHate.”
Words in this poem
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- beholding a.
- Obliged; beholden.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- unhealth n.
- Unsoundness; disease.
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The House of Hate is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, The House of Hate, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/the-house-of-hate.html, id L22050.
Form and metre
The House of Hate is 40 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB sightA · spiteA · gateB · hateB
- 2 AAB-B despairA · hairA · blueB · him · throughB
- 3 A-A-BB desireA · with · fireA · strangled · manB · beganB
- 4 AAB-B mineA · wineA · fooledB · thereby · schooledB
- 5 AA-BB seatA · sweetA · and · blackB · wrackB
- 6 AABB fearA · hearA · cryB · dieB
- 7 AAB-B grownA · stoneA · fledB · was · redB
- 8 AA-B-B flameA · shameA · and · greatB · of · hateB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mine enemy builded well, with the soft blue hills in sight; | 13 | ·/˘/˘········ |
| But betwixt his house and the hills I builded a house for spite: | 15 | ·˘/······/˘···· |
| And the name thereof I set in the stone-work over the gate, | 14 | ·············· |
| With a carving of bats and apes; and I called it the House of Hate. | 16 | ··/˘············ |
| And the front was alive with masks of malice and of despair; | 15 | ····˘/···/˘··˘/ |
| Horned demons that leered in stone, and women with serpent hair; | 14 | ·/˘·····/˘·/˘· |
| That whenever his glance would rest on the soft hills far and blue, | 15 | ·˘/˘··········· |
| It must fall on mine evil work, and my hatred should pierce him | 14 | ·····/···/˘··· |
| through. | 1 | · |
| And I said, “I will dwell herein, for beholding my heart’s desire | 16 | ······˘/·˘/˘··˘/ |
| On my foe”; and I knelt, and fain had brightened the hearth with | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| fire; | 2 | /˘ |
| But the brands they would hiss and die, as with curses a strangled | 15 | ··········/˘·/˘ |
| man, | 1 | · |
| And the hearth was cold from the day that the House of Hate began. | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| And I called at the open door, “Make ye merry, all friends of mine, | 16 | ·····/˘···/˘···· |
| In the hall of my House of Hate, where is plentiful store and wine. | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| We will drink unhealth together unto him I have foiled and fooled!” | 16 | ···/˘˘/˘········ |
| And they stared and they passed me by; but I scorned to be thereby | 15 | ··············· |
| schooled. | 1 | · |
| And I ordered my board for feast; and I drank, in the topmost seat, | 16 | ··/˘·········/˘· |
| Choice grape from a curious cup; and the first it was wonder-sweet; | 15 | ····/˘······/˘· |
| But the second was bitter indeed, and the third was bitter and | 16 | ··/˘·/˘˘/····/˘· |
| black, | 1 | · |
| And the gloom of the grave came on me, and I cast the cup to wrack. | 16 | ················ |
| Alone, I was stark alone, and the shadows were each a fear; | 15 | ˘/···˘/··/····· |
| And thinly I laughed, but once, for the echoes were strange to hear; | 15 | ·/˘······/˘···· |
| And the wind in the hallways howled as a green-eyed wolf might cry, | 15 | ·····/········· |
| And I heard my heart: I must look on the face of a man, or die! | 16 | ················ |
| So I crept to my mirrored face, and I looked, and I saw it grown | 16 | ·····/˘········· |
| (By the light in my shaking hand) to the like of the masks of stone; | 16 | ·····/˘········· |
| And with horror I shrieked aloud as I flung my torch and fled, | 15 | ··/˘··˘/······· |
| And a fire-snake writhed where it fell; and at midnight the sky was | 15 | ··/·······/···· |
| red. | 1 | · |
| And at morn, when the House of Hate was a ruin, despoiled of flame, | 15 | ··········/···· |
| I fell at mine enemy’s feet, and besought him to slay my shame; | 15 | ····/˘··˘/····· |
| But he looked in mine eyes and smiled, and his eyes were calm and | 14 | ·············· |
| great: | 1 | · |
| “You rave, or have dreamed,” he said; “I saw not your House of | 13 | ············· |
| Hate.” | 1 | · |
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