I DWELL in a lonely house I know
That vanished many a summer ago,
And left no trace but the cellar walls,
And a cellar in which the daylight falls,
And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow.

O’er ruined fences the grape-vines shield
The woods come back to the mowing field;
The orchard tree has grown one copse
Of new wood and old where the woodpecker chops;
The footpath down to the well is healed.

I dwell with a strangely aching heart
In that vanished abode there far apart
On that disused and forgotten road
That has no dust-bath now for the toad.
Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart;

The whippoorwill is coming to shout
And hush and cluck and flutter about:
I hear him begin far enough away
Full many a time to say his say
Before he arrives to say it out.

It is under the small, dim, summer star.
I know not who these mute folk are
Who share the unlit place with me–
Those stones out under the low-limbed tree
Doubtless bear names that the mosses mar.

They are tireless folk, but slow and sad,
Though two, close-keeping, are lass and lad,–
With none among them that ever sings,
And yet, in view of how many things,
As sweet companions as might be had.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem Ghost House

59 Comments

  1. Curis says:

    its my fav…so good…. i love the 3rd word very muihc\

  2. erik umland says:

    i think i found out what the poem is actually talking about, in the first part he’s just talking about the old house thats has been forgotten, and then it goes on to the the grave yard, that has also been forgotten, and then he talks about the forgotten people lying inside the grave yard

  3. Ry says:

    I want to know what the poem means and find a site that has any information about the poem and thanks if you show me one because i really need one for my research paper, because i got a 50 on the rough draft and i need to get an A on the final to keep from failing the class, Honors English II

  4. john doe says:

    what significants does this poem have on robert frosts life???

  5. Kelly Duggan says:

    I’m 14, and I’m using this poem as part of my essay on ghost stories. When I first read it, I didn’t quite understand it – I imagined it, but I didn’t understand what my thoughts meant. After reading it through a few times, it became clear to me that there are several possibilities, not just one particular one. My initial thought was that the persona’s a ghost, he’s full of sorrow from the loss of his life, his family, his home that has now been captured by nature. He’s sad that the house has been left derelict, no-one to care for it, but happy that he’s still the only occupant, apart from the two other ghosts, his family that also died.
    It’s very how Robert Frost has written this, I love the rhyming, the pattern of the lines and the stanzas. In a way, I wish it could be more clear, but then I like the mystery of it, it’s so intriguing.

  6. Courtney says:

    I don’t know why people like the ones who last commented even bother. Robert Frost was a great poet, and everyone stands to learn something from his works. So if your not serious why comment at all?

  7. Stef says:

    yo my homies lol i soo like agree with bill mcgee your my homie!! lol yeh these teachers these days mine goes nuts she took my cell phone away w/e rob frost is cool and so r his poems lol cya

  8. bill mcgee says:

    yo dis was the best stuff i ever read u guys should never write anymore cause i h8 u now because my language arts teacher is making me and my class memorize ur longest poem that stinks plz dont do this to us kids and make us suffer!!!!

  9. Stef Belding says:

    I think all of Robert Frost Poems are great. I’m doing a project on them with some of my friends and I can’t decide which on to pick but otherwise for that lady Samantha Kolar stop complaining people work long hours just to write these poems so you can see them so stop complaining about the grammer and suck it up would you like to spend all of your day writing poems for other people to see? I don’t think so and people can comment if they want to

  10. oliver blanco says:

    i think that robert frost poems are great speacially this one because it scares and i like poems like that and i also think that robert hasa a way with rhyming

  11. Samantha Kolar says:

    I hate you guys who cannot spell. It’s really bumming me out. You all have terrible grammar, too. Or maybe you’re all lazy? Anyway, I agree with Edgar Mujica. By “analyzing” it with phrases like, “I don’t understand the poem,” or “I read the poem and i believe it is very sad because of this poor ghost struggling in his deression and lonelyness.” Seriously, at least try to “analyze” it in a way that’s at least a little mature, or please don’t comment at all.

  12. Alejandra says:

    Sandburg is a true genius writing about a haunted house is awesome I actually got scared for a moment

  13. Edgar Mujica says:

    i think that most people who have commented on the this poem are blind to its actual meaning, therefore, have come up with nonsense. To spoil a masterpiece is to steal from its gravity. That’s what you have done. Bastards!

  14. Raimundo says:

    I love this guy! He is so good at making me visualize the poem!……Peace out

  15. Will says:

    i wish people didnt leave comments like “what the hell is he talking about” cause i really would hate to help the person that said this. I would rather help someone who says, “i think _____, what do u guys think?”………………but nyways… the poem is about Frost’s lonliness after his wife and daughter die along with his parents. He writes alot of poems about being alone like “aquainted with the night.” He had a lonely life. Go figue.

  16. Jessica Gardner says:

    I think that this poem is very good and it shows how this old hou8se how no one lives in is steal alive in away.

  17. angela says:

    this is a very beautiful poem in the fact of forgotteness and he yet still wanders and lives there. he is the one that will look after his companions.

  18. anne says:

    I don’t understand the poem.

  19. Logan Tullett says:

    I read the poem and i believe it is very sad because of this poor ghost struggling in his deression and lonelyness. I feel like hed be a ghost in real life because the way he feels really shows you that.

  20. Elizabeth says:

    this poem is allright. is not that scary.

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