Dark House
Dark House - meaning Summary
The House as Womb
The speaker describes a self-made "dark house" built "cell by cell," an interior, bodily space that resembles both a womb and a cave. The poem tracks creation and containment: maternal activity, animalistic gestation, and obsessive mapping of internal chambers. Imagery mixes tenderness and revulsion, suggesting ambivalence about birth, creativity, and dependence. A blamed male presence hints at relational tension, while the closing lines offer a fragile, equivocal comfort.
Read Complete AnalysesThis is a dark house, very big. I made it myself, Cell by cell from a quiet corner, Chewing at the grey paper, Oozing the glue drops, Whistling, wiggling my ears, Thinking of something else. It has so many cellars, Such eelish delvings! U an round as an owl, I see by my own light. Any day I may litter puppies Or mother a horse. My belly moves. I must make more maps. These marrowy tunnels! Moley-handed, I eat my way. All-mouth licks up the bushes And the pots of meat. He lives in an old well, A stoney hole. He's to blame. He's a fat sort. Pebble smells, turnipy chambers. Small nostrils are breathing. Little humble loves! Footlings, boneless as noses, It is warm and tolerable In the bowel of the root. Here's a cuddly mother.
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