Howard Phillips Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror, left a remarkable literary legacy that consists of numerous short stories, essays, and tens of thousands of letters. In spite of the incredible popularity his works have gained in the decades after his death, one segment of his writing that still remains a bit neglected are his poems.
In this post we’ll read ‘The House’. It was first published in The Philosopher magazine in 1920, and then re-published in Weird Tales in 1948. If you’re already familiar with the moody and eerie atmosphere of most of Lovecraft’s stories, the tone of this poem will feel familiar to you, as well. And if you’re new to Lovecraft, it will give you a taste of his writing style.
There’s a vocabulary exercise designed for English language learners below the poem, suitable for students at the intermediate (B2) level and above.
'Tis a grove-circled dwelling
Set close to a hill,
Where the branches are telling
Strange legends of ill;
Over timbers so old
That they breathe of the dead,
Crawl the vines, green and cold,
By strange nourishment fed;
And no man knows the juices they suck from the depths of their dank slimy bed.
In the gardens are growing
Tall blossoms and fair,
Each pallid bloom throwing
Perfume on the air;
But the afternoon sun
with its shining red rays
Makes the picture loom dun
On the curious gaze,
And above the sweet scent of the blossoms rise odours of numberless days.
The rank grasses are waving
On terrace and lawn,
Dim memories savouring
Of things that have gone;
The stones of the walks
Are encrusted and wet,
And a strange spirit stalks
When the red sun has set,
And the soul of the watcher is fill'd with faint pictures he fain would forget.
It was in the hot June-time
I stood by that scene,
When the gold rays of noontime
Beat bright on the green.
But I shiver'd with cold,
Groping feebly for light,
As a picture unroll'd -
And my age-spanning sight
Saw the time I had been there before flash like fulgury out of the night.
VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Match the words in the poem above with the following definitions and/or synonyms:
STANZA 1
- food (noun)
- a tree, esp. that used for construction (noun)
- a house, an abode (noun)
- misfortune, distress (adjective)
- unpleasantly moist, wet and humid (adjective)
- a small group of trees (noun)
STANZA 2
- brownish, dark-grey colour, dull (adjective)
- wan, dull, pale (adjective)
- a fixed, intent look (noun)
- to appear in a distorted form (verb)
- a flower (noun)
- smell, scent, perfume (noun)
STANZA 3
- gladly, with pleasure (adverb)
- excessive in growth (adjective)
- ground covered with grass (noun)
- dull, faint, unclear (adjective)
- to taste, enjoy, relish (verb)
- to follow someone, to prey (verb)
STANZA 4
- lightning (noun)
- to shake, shudder (verb)
- a sudden burst of bright light (noun)
- weakly, delicately (adverb)
- to look or reach for something blindly (verb)
- midday (noun)
To check your answers, click here.
How do you feel about this poem? Are you unsettled by its imagery, or does it invite more calming thoughts? Feel free to post your ideas in the comments section below!
NOTES
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COVER PHOTO CREDIT
Image by Trenna Sonnenschein from Pixabay.
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