Edward Hopper And The House By The Railroad (1925) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCD EFEG HIJK LMDN OPQR LSTU VWXY ZCAA2 B2C2D2B BLE2F2| Out here in the exact middle of the day | A |
| This strange gawky house has the expression | B |
| Of someone being stared at someone holding | C |
| His breath underwater hushed and expectant | D |
| - | |
| This house is ashamed of itself ashamed | E |
| Of its fantastic mansard rooftop | F |
| And its pseudo Gothic porch ashamed | E |
| of its shoulders and large awkward hands | G |
| - | |
| But the man behind the easel is relentless | H |
| He is as brutal as sunlight and believes | I |
| The house must have done something horrible | J |
| To the people who once lived here | K |
| - | |
| Because now it is so desperately empty | L |
| It must have done something to the sky | M |
| Because the sky too is utterly vacant | D |
| And devoid of meaning There are no | N |
| - | |
| Trees or shrubs anywhere the house | O |
| Must have done something against the earth | P |
| All that is present is a single pair of tracks | Q |
| Straightening into the distance No trains pass | R |
| - | |
| Now the stranger returns to this place daily | L |
| Until the house begins to suspect | S |
| That the man too is desolate desolate | T |
| And even ashamed Soon the house starts | U |
| - | |
| To stare frankly at the man And somehow | V |
| The empty white canvas slowly takes on | W |
| The expression of someone who is unnerved | X |
| Someone holding his breath underwater | Y |
| - | |
| And then one day the man simply disappears | Z |
| He is a last afternoon shadow moving | C |
| Across the tracks making its way | A |
| Through the vast darkening fields | A2 |
| - | |
| This man will paint other abandoned mansions | B2 |
| And faded cafeteria windows and poorly lettered | C2 |
| Storefronts on the edges of small towns | D2 |
| Always they will have this same expression | B |
| - | |
| The utterly naked look of someone | B |
| Being stared at someone American and gawky | L |
| Someone who is about to be left alone | E2 |
| Again and can no longer stand it | F2 |
Edward Hirsch
(2)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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About Edward Hopper And The House By The Railroad (1925)
Edward Hopper And The House By The Railroad (1925) is a poem by Edward Hirsch. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.