The House That Was
Laurence Binyon
1869 to 1943
Drag the words to the correct places to complete the poem. To reset the game, click on the "Reset Game" button located below the poem. This will clear all the words you've placed in the blanks, returning them to the word bank and resetting the poem to its original state with empty blanks.
Of the old house, only a few crumbled
______ of brick, smothered in nettle and dock,
Or a ______ stone, lying mossy where it tumbled!
Sprawling bramble ______ saucy thistle mock
What once was firelit floor and ______ charm
Where, seen in a windowed picture, hills ______ fading
At dusk, and all was memory-coloured and warm,
And voices talked, secure from the wind's invading.
Of ______ old garden, only a stray shining
Of daffodil ______ amid April's cuckoo-flowers,
Or a cluster of aconite mixt ______ weeds entwining!
But, dark and lofty, a royal ______ towers
By homely thorns: whether the white rain drifts
Or sun scorches, he holds the downs in ken,
______ western vale; his branchy tiers he lifts,
Older ______ many a generation of men.