A Dead House
When the clock hath ceased to tickSoul-like in the gloomy hall;When the latch no more doth clickTongue-like in the red peach-wall;When no more come sounds of play,Mice nor children romping roam,Then looks down the eye of dayOn a dead house, not a home!
But when, like an old sun's ghost,Haunts her vault the spectral moon;When earth's margins all are lost,Melting shapes nigh merged in swoon,Then a sound--hark! there again!--No, 'tis not a nibbling mouse!'Tis a ghost, unseen of men,Walking through the bare-floored house!
And with lightning on the stairTo that silent upper room,With the thunder-shaken airSudden gleaming into gloom,With a frost-wind whistling round,From the raging northern coasts,Then, mid sieging light and sound,All the house is live with ghosts!
Brother, is thy soul a cellEmpty save of glittering motes,Where no live loves live and dwell,Only notions, things, and thoughts?Then thou wilt, when comes a BreathTempest-shaking ridge and post,Find thyself alone with DeathIn a house where walks no ghost.
Words in this poem
- latch v. t.
- To smear; to anoint. [Cf. F. lécher to lick (of German origin). Cf. Lick.]
- romping a.
- Inclined to romp; indulging in romps.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dead House is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, A Dead House, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/a-dead-house.html, id L22286.
Form and metre
A Dead House is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDCD tickA · hallB · clickA · wallB · playC · roamD · dayC · homeD
- 2 -A-ABCBC ghost · moonA · lost · swoonA · againB · mouseC · menB · houseC
- 3 ABABCDCD stairA · roomB · airA · gloomB · roundC · coastsD · soundC · ghostsD
- 4 A-A-BCBC cellA · motes · dwellA · thoughts · breathB · postC · deathB · ghostC
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. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the clock hath ceased to tick | 7 | ······· |
| Soul-like in the gloomy hall; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When the latch no more doth click | 7 | ······· |
| Tongue-like in the red peach-wall; | 7 | ······· |
| When no more come sounds of play, | 7 | ······· |
| Mice nor children romping roam, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Then looks down the eye of day | 7 | ······· |
| On a dead house, not a home! | 7 | ······· |
| But when, like an old sun's ghost, | 7 | ······· |
| Haunts her vault the spectral moon; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When earth's margins all are lost, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Melting shapes nigh merged in swoon, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Then a sound--hark! there again!-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| No, 'tis not a nibbling mouse! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| 'Tis a ghost, unseen of men, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Walking through the bare-floored house! | 7 | /˘····· |
| And with lightning on the stair | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To that silent upper room, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| With the thunder-shaken air | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Sudden gleaming into gloom, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With a frost-wind whistling round, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the raging northern coasts, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Then, mid sieging light and sound, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All the house is live with ghosts! | 7 | ······· |
| Brother, is thy soul a cell | 7 | /˘····· |
| Empty save of glittering motes, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Where no live loves live and dwell, | 7 | ······· |
| Only notions, things, and thoughts? | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Then thou wilt, when comes a Breath | 7 | ······· |
| Tempest-shaking ridge and post, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Find thyself alone with Death | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
| In a house where walks no ghost. | 7 | ······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.