Drab Habitation of Whom?

Drab Habitation of Whom? - meaning Summary

Domestic Space as Riddle

The short poem fixes on a single dwelling and asks, in quick, interrogative fragments, what kind of space it is: a sacred tabernacle, a tomb, a dome of decay, or a tiny fairy place. The rapid alternatives compress sacred, mortal, and whimsical possibilities into a single image, leaving identity unsettled. The effect is a compact meditation on ambiguous domestic space, where reverence, death, and the uncanny coexist. Dickinson’s spare questions force the reader to supply meaning rather than offering firm answers.