The Lockless Door
The Lockless Door - context Summary
From Mountain Interval Collection
"The Lockless Door" appears in Robert Frost's collection Mountain Interval. Its compact narrative—an anxious reaction to a knock, an attempt to hide, then a step back into the world—fits the book's broader concerns with rural life, individual choice, and the boundary between private interior and public risk. The poem reads as a vignette about how a speaker confronts intrusion and decides, after hesitation, to rejoin life rather than remain shut away. Placed in Mountain Interval, it complements Frost's interest in moral moments and small but decisive actions.
Read Complete AnalysesIt went many years, But at last came a knock, And I thought of the door With no lock to lock. I blew out the light, I tip-toed the floor, And raised both hands In prayer to the door. But the knock came again My window was wide; I climbed on the sill And descended outside. Back over the sill I bade a “Come in” To whoever the knock At the door may have been. So at a knock I emptied my cage To hide in the world And alter with age.
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