Who Occupies This House?
poem 892
Who Occupies This House? - meaning Summary
Strangers in a Quiet Town
The speaker encounters an unfamiliar house and meditates on its quiet, peculiar inhabitants. Lacking knowledge of the owner, she imagines a town of stillness—ghosts, squirrels, and solemn citizens—where settlement slowly transforms into a grave, orderly community. She contrasts this with livelier places where birds and boys congregate. Ultimately the poem registers a gap between self and other: the householder remains a stranger, like most of "Eternity's Acquaintances."
Read Complete AnalysesWho occupies this House? A Stranger I must judge Since No one know His Circumstance ‘Tis well the name and age Are writ upon the Door Or I should fear to pause Where not so much as Honest Dog Approach encourages. It seems a curious Town Some Houses very old, Some newly raised this Afternoon, Were I compelled to build It should not be among Inhabitants so still But where the Birds assemble And Boys were possible. Before Myself was born ‘Twas settled, so they say, A Territory for the Ghosts And Squirrels, formerly. Until a Pioneer, as Settlers often do Liking the quiet of the Place Attracted more unto And from a Settlement A Capital has grown Distinguished for the gravity Of every Citizen. The Owner of this House A Stranger He must be Eternity’s Acquaintances Are mostly so to me.
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