Analysis of The House Of Dust: Part 03: 03: Haunted Chambers
Conrad Potter Aiken 1889 (Savannah, Georgia) – 1973 (Savannah, Georgia)
The lamplit page is turned, the dream forgotten;
The music changes tone, you wake, remember
Deep worlds you lived before,—deep worlds hereafter
Of leaf on falling leaf, music on music,
Rain and sorrow and wind and dust and laughter.
Helen was late and Miriam came too soon.
Joseph was dead, his wife and children starving.
Elaine was married and soon to have a child.
You dreamed last night of fiddler-crabs with fiddles;
They played a buzzing melody, and you smiled.
To-morrow—what? And what of yesterday?
Through soundless labyrinths of dream you pass,
Through many doors to the one door of all.
Soon as it's opened we shall hear a music:
Or see a skeleton fall . . .
We walk with you. Where is it that you lead us?
We climb the muffled stairs beneath high lanterns.
We descend again. We grope through darkened cells.
You say: this darkness, here, will slowly kill me.
It creeps and weighs upon me . . . Is full of bells.
This is the thing remembered I would forget—
No matter where I go, how soft I tread,
This windy gesture menaces me with death.
Fatigue! it says, and points its finger at me;
Touches my throat and stops my breath.
My fans—my jewels—the portrait of my husband—
The torn certificate for my daughter's grave—
These are but mortal seconds in immortal time.
They brush me, fade away: like drops of water.
They signify no crime.
Let us retrace our steps: I have deceived you:
Nothing is here I could not frankly tell you:
No hint of guilt, or faithlessness, or threat.
Dreams—they are madness. Staring eyes—illusion.
Let us return, hear music, and forget . . .
Scheme | ABBCB XXDXD XXECE XXFGF HXIGI XXJBJ KKHAH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111101010 01010111010 11110111010 11110110110 10100101010 10110100111 10111101010 01110011101 111111001110 11010100011 110101110 1111111 1101101111 11110111010 1101001 11111111111 11010101110 10101111101 11110111011 11010111111 11010101101 1101111111 11010100111 01110111011 10110111 111100101110 01010011101 111101000101 11110111110 11011 110110111011 10111111011 11111111 11110101010 1101110001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,573 |
Words | 277 |
Sentences | 34 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 174 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 48 Views
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"The House Of Dust: Part 03: 03: Haunted Chambers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7068/the-house-of-dust%3A-part-03%3A-03%3A-haunted-chambers>.
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