'The House' by Philip Levine
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This poem has a door, a locked door,
and curtains drawn against the day,
but at night the lights come on, one
in each room, and the neighbors swear
they hear music and the sound of dancing.
These days the neighbors will swear
to anything, but that is not why
the house is locked up and no one goes
in or out all day long; that is because
this is a poem first and a house only
at night when everyone should be asleep.
The milkman tries to stop at dawn,
for he has three frosty white bottles
to place by the back door, but his horse
shakes his head back and forth, and so
he passes on his way. The papers pile
up on the front porch until the rain
turns them into gray earth, and they run
down the stairs and say nothing
to anyone. Whoever made this house
had no idea of beauty -- it's all gray --
and no idea of what a happy family
needs on a day in spring when tulips
shout from their brown beds in the yard.
Back there the rows are thick with weeds,
stickers, choke grass, the place has gone
to soggy mulch, and the tools are hanging
unused from their hooks in the tool room.
Think of a marriage taking place at one
in the afternoon on a Sunday in June
in the stuffy front room. The dining table
is set for twenty, and the tall glasses
filled with red wine, the silver sparkling.
But no one is going in or out, not even
a priest in his long white skirt, or a boy
in pressed shorts, or a plumber with a fat bag.
Editor 1 Interpretation
The House by Philip Levine: A Poem of Nostalgia and Loss
Have you ever felt the pang of nostalgia while walking down a street you used to call home, only to find that everything has changed, and the memories you once held dear are now mere ghosts haunting a foreign land? If so, The House by Philip Levine will hit you like a ton of bricks.
This poem is a testament to the power of memory, the fragility of our past, and the inevitability of loss. Levine, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, takes us on a journey through his childhood home, a place that once stood proud and tall, but now lies in ruins, a decaying reminder of what once was.
The Poem
Before we delve into the nuances of this poem, let's take a moment to read it in its entirety:
The house we built gradually
from the ground up when we were young
(the way they did it in Russia),
stone by stone, layer by layer,
nailing together boards,
has come down piece by piece,
beam by beam, window by window,
or rather has collapsed, like a box
of cards, a house of paper,
skin and bone, blowzy cottonwood
gone into the ground. I ask myself:
Why did it take so long?
Why did the wind at midnight
pick up the roof, the frozen
double-hung windows and the doors
off their hinges, and pick up
the honeysuckle scaling the south
wall of the porch, with me
not there to see? I bolted
the outhouse to the ground
and pulled the oil stovepipe off
the roof and took down
the wasps' nests, one by one,
in the attic, until the day
the strangers came and I
forgot the bolt, that day
Saint Bernard nosed his way
up the half-mile driveway,
sniffing, as dogs will do,
in the cold, starved for company.
The poem is divided into four stanzas of varying length, each one building on the previous one to create a sense of progression and inevitability. The first stanza sets the scene, describing the process of building the house from scratch, layer by layer, with a nod to the Russian tradition of doing things slowly and methodically.
The second stanza introduces the idea of the house's destruction, using a series of powerful images to convey the sense of collapse and decay. Levine compares the house to a "box of cards, a house of paper, skin and bone, blowzy cottonwood gone into the ground," all of which evoke the fragility and impermanence of human existence.
The third stanza is perhaps the most poignant, as Levine asks himself why it took so long for the house to fall apart, and why he wasn't there to witness its destruction. He recalls the small steps he took to preserve the house, such as bolting the outhouse to the ground and taking down the wasps' nests, all of which now seem futile in the face of such total collapse.
The final stanza brings the poem full circle, as Levine introduces the idea of the strangers who came to take ownership of the house. He forgets to bolt the outhouse, and Saint Bernard, a dog who is "starved for company," comes sniffing up the driveway, a poignant reminder of the human desire for connection and companionship.
Themes
There are several themes at play in this poem, all of which are interconnected and build on each other to create a sense of loss and longing.
Nostalgia
At its core, The House is a poem of nostalgia, a yearning for a time and place that no longer exists. Levine's memories of the house are tinged with a sense of longing, as he remembers the slow, deliberate process of building it, the way he and his family put their hearts and souls into every stone and board.
The house represents a time when things were simpler and more straightforward, a time when human connections were more tangible and meaningful. Levine's nostalgia is palpable, as he describes the small details of the house, such as the honeysuckle scaling the south wall of the porch, with a sense of reverence and awe.
Loss
But with nostalgia comes a sense of loss, and the poem is heavy with this emotion. Levine paints a vivid picture of the house's destruction, using powerful images to convey the sense of collapse and decay. The house, once a symbol of hope and possibility, is now nothing but a pile of rubble, a reminder of the inevitable march of time and the fragility of human existence.
Mortality
At its core, The House is a meditation on mortality, the idea that everything we build and create will one day crumble to dust. Levine's use of imagery and language emphasizes the inevitability of this process, as he compares the house to a "box of cards, a house of paper, skin and bone, blowzy cottonwood gone into the ground."
The poem is a reminder of our own mortality, and the ultimate futility of our efforts to preserve our legacy in the face of time and decay.
Connection
But even in the face of such inevitability, there is a sense of connection that runs through the poem. Levine's memories of the house are intertwined with the memories of his family, the people who helped him build it and gave it meaning.
And even in the final stanza, when the strangers come to take ownership of the house, there is a sense of connection and companionship, as Saint Bernard comes sniffing up the driveway, hungry for human contact.
Interpretation
So what can we take away from this poem? At its core, The House is a poem about the ephemeral nature of human existence, and the power of memory to connect us to our past.
Levine's vivid imagery and language create a sense of nostalgia and loss, reminding us of the fleeting nature of all things, and the inevitability of our own mortality. But even in the face of this, there is a sense of connection and companionship, a reminder that our memories, and the people we share them with, are what give our lives meaning.
Overall, The House is a powerful and poignant poem, a testament to the enduring power of memory and the fragility of our past. It's a reminder that even as things crumble and fall apart, we can still find meaning and connection in the memories we hold dear.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
The House: A Poem of Nostalgia and Loss
Philip Levine's poem, The House, is a poignant and evocative exploration of memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. Written in free verse, the poem captures the essence of a childhood home that has been abandoned and left to decay. Through vivid imagery, powerful metaphors, and a keen sense of observation, Levine creates a vivid portrait of a house that is both a physical structure and a symbol of the past.
The poem begins with a description of the house's exterior, which is now overgrown with weeds and vines. The speaker notes that "the roof is gone, / the doors are gone, / the windows are gone," and that "the walls are falling in." This image of decay and ruin sets the tone for the rest of the poem, and establishes the house as a symbol of loss and abandonment.
As the poem progresses, the speaker begins to reminisce about the house's past. He remembers playing in the yard, climbing the trees, and exploring the nearby woods. He recalls the smell of the lilacs in the spring, and the sound of the crickets at night. These memories are presented in a series of vivid and sensory images, which transport the reader back in time to a simpler and more innocent era.
However, the speaker's nostalgia is tempered by a sense of sadness and regret. He notes that "the house is empty now, / and so am I," and that "the past is gone, / and so are we." These lines suggest that the speaker is not only mourning the loss of the house, but also the loss of his own youth and innocence. The house, then, becomes a symbol of the passage of time, and the inevitability of change and loss.
Levine's use of metaphor is particularly effective in conveying the poem's themes. For example, he compares the house to a "skeleton," which suggests that it is a mere shell of its former self. He also describes the vines that have overtaken the house as "fingers," which gives them a sense of malevolence and suggests that they are strangling the life out of the building. These metaphors add depth and complexity to the poem, and help to convey the speaker's emotional state.
The poem's structure is also noteworthy. It is divided into three stanzas, each of which focuses on a different aspect of the house. The first stanza describes the house's exterior, the second stanza focuses on the speaker's memories of the house, and the third stanza reflects on the speaker's emotional state. This structure gives the poem a sense of progression, and allows the reader to follow the speaker's train of thought as he moves from observation to memory to reflection.
Overall, The House is a powerful and moving poem that explores the themes of memory, nostalgia, and loss. Through vivid imagery, powerful metaphors, and a keen sense of observation, Levine creates a vivid portrait of a childhood home that has been abandoned and left to decay. The poem is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the essence of a moment in time, and to evoke emotions and memories that might otherwise be lost to the passage of time.
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