Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE NEW HOUSE, by JOHN FREEMAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE NEW HOUSE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I will buy or build a brand-new house,' / she said
Last Line: Save the fantastic worm's perpetual boring.
Subject(s): Houses; Property; Possessions


"I WILL buy or build a brand-new house," she said.
"I am tired of other people's left-off houses,
Their noises, dirt, and splashes in the bathroom,
And staircase always haunted by their dead.

"A new house, in a newish neighbourhood,
With windows everywhere all light and bright;
Wired everywhere, and one room just like this
Of course, primrose and black—that's understood.

"I really mean it. No matter what I spend
I'll move at Michaelmas: I can't stand the winters.
I don't care about a garden or a garage,
I want somewhere to be tired in each weekend.

"Everything new—when all my life I've had
Everything secondhand—and all my own.
You can't think how I dream and dream about it,
Coming in here at night, tired out and sad."

—Next Michaelmas! I didn't think it was that house.
It was brand-new, no one lay there before,
A brand-new suburb, and quiet as could be.
Primrose chrysanthemums and black cypress shadows

Made it so like the thing she always wanted,
She must be pleased at last: it was all her own—
Somewhere to be tired in, and silent in,
And not by other people's dead ones haunted;

But round it other houses, white and stoney,
All just the same in Death's prim garden suburb,
With stones that lean together for good neighbours,
And hers that stands erect, utterly lonely.

Beneath, six polished boards, for walls, roof, flooring,
With new joints starting under sinking water;
And silence endless, and no motion ever
Save the fantastic worm's perpetual boring.





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