In a House Was One
In a house was one who arose from the feastAnd went forth to wander in distant lands,Because there was somewhere far off in the EastA spot which he sought where a great Church stands.And ever his children, when breaking their bread,Thought of him and rose up and blessed him as dead.
In another house was the one who had died,Who still sat at table and drank from the glassAnd ever within the walls did abide--For out of the house he could no more pass.And his children set forth to seek for the spotWhere stands the great Church which he forgot.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In a House Was One is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, translated by Jessie Lemont, with an introduction by H.T. (New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1918), Project Gutenberg ebook #38594, the Jessie Lemont translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rainer Maria Rilke, In a House Was One, in Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38594, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rilke-poems-lemont/in-a-house-was-one.html, id L27769.
Form and metre
In a House Was One is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABABCC feastA · landsB · eastA · standsB · breadC · deadC
- 2 ABABCC diedA · glassB · abideA · passB · spotC · forgotC
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In a house was one who arose from the feast | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| And went forth to wander in distant lands, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Because there was somewhere far off in the East | 11 | ····/······ |
| A spot which he sought where a great Church stands. | 10 | ·········· |
| And ever his children, when breaking their bread, | 10 | ·/·/˘·/˘·· |
| Thought of him and rose up and blessed him as dead. | 11 | ··········· |
| In another house was the one who had died, | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| Who still sat at table and drank from the glass | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And ever within the walls did abide-- | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| For out of the house he could no more pass. | 10 | ·········· |
| And his children set forth to seek for the spot | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Where stands the great Church which he forgot. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
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.