Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LODGING HOUSE, by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When up the fretful, creaking stair Last Line: To seek a home I know not where. | ||||||||
When up the fretful, creaking stair, From floor to floor I creep On tiptoe, lest I wake from their first beauty-sleep The unknown lodgers lying, layer on layer, In the packed house from roof to basement Behind each landing's unseen door; The well-known steps are strangely steep, And the old stairway seems to soar, For my amazement Hung in air, Flight on flight Through pitchy night, Evermore and evermore. And when at last I stand outside My garret-door I hardly dare To open it, Lest, when I fling it wide, With candle lit And reading in my only chair, I find myself already there... And so must crawl back down the sheer black pit Of hell's own stair, Past lodgers sleeping layer on layer, To seek a home I know not where. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BETWEEN THE LINES by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON BREAKFAST by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON FLANNAN ISLE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON FOR G. by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON GERANIUMS by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON LAMENT by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON RETREAT by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON RUPERT BROOKE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON THE GORSE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON THE ICE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON |
|