I seem like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but me departed.
—Thomas Moore, “Oft in the Stilly Night (Scotch Air)”
See’st thou yon gray gleaming hall,
Where the deep elm-shadows fall?
Voices that have left the earth
Long ago,
Still are murmuring round its hearth,
Soft and low:
Ever there;—yet one alone
Hath the gift to hear their tone.
Guests come thither, and depart,
Free of step, and light of heart;
Children, with sweet visions blessed,
In the haunted chambers rest;
One alone unslumbering lies
When the night hath sealed all eyes,
One quick heart and watchful ear,
Listening for those whispers clear.
See’st thou where the woodbine-flowers
O’er yon low porch hang in showers?
Startling faces of the dead,
Pale, yet sweet,
One lone woman’s entering tread
There still meet!
Some with young, smooth foreheads fair,
Faintly shining through bright hair;
Some with reverend locks of snow—
All, all buried long ago!
All, from under deep sea-waves,
Or the flowers of foreign graves,
Or the old and bannered aisle,
Where their high tombs gleam the while;
Rising, wandering, floating by,
Suddenly and silently,
Through their earthly home and place,
But amidst another race.
Wherefore, unto one alone,
Are those sounds and visions known?
Wherefore hath that spell of power
Dark and dread,
On her soul, a baleful dower,
Thus been shed?
Oh! in those deep-seeing eyes,
No strange gift of mystery lies!
She is lone where once she moved,
Fair, and happy, and beloved!
Sunny smiles were glancing round her,
Tendrils of kind hearts had bound her;
Now those silver chords are broken,
Those bright looks have left no token;
Not one trace on all the earth,
Save her memory of their mirth.
She is lone and lingering now,
Dreams have gathered o’er her brow,
Midst gay songs and children’s play,
She is dwelling far away;
Seeing what none else may see—
Haunted still her place must be!
Felicia Dorothea Hemans' poem The Haunted House is a richly evocative exploration of memory, loss, and isolation, couched in gothic imagery and melancholic tones. Inspired by Thomas Moore’s epigraph from “Oft in the Stilly Night,” Hemans delves into the interplay between the living and the dead, portraying a protagonist burdened by an extraordinary sensitivity to the spectral remnants of the past. The poem's elegiac quality is heightened by its formal structure and its poignant, musical diction. This analysis will explore its themes, literary devices, and the emotional resonance they produce.
The poem consists of three stanzas, each employing regular rhyming couplets and consistent meter to evoke a sense of inevitability and continuity. This formal structure mirrors the haunting persistence of the memories and visions described within. The lilting rhythm and frequent use of enjambment create a flow that mimics the inexorable passage of time and the ghostly murmurs of the voices.
Hemans juxtaposes the ethereal with the tangible, structuring the poem so that each stanza shifts between describing spectral presences and their impact on the lone observer. This alternation sustains a tension between the physical and the spiritual realms, emphasizing the liminal nature of the haunted house.
Memory and Loss
At its core, the poem meditates on the lingering power of memory, which is portrayed as both a blessing and a curse. The protagonist is haunted not by literal ghosts but by an acute awareness of the past, symbolized by the murmuring voices and pale faces of the dead. The imagery of "deep sea-waves," "flowers of foreign graves," and "bannered aisle[s]" evokes the vast distances and diverse circumstances of death, underscoring the inexorability of separation.
The speaker’s loneliness is palpable: she is “lone where once she moved, / Fair, and happy, and beloved.” This contrast between past joy and present solitude gives the poem its elegiac tone. The protagonist's isolation is deepened by her unique sensitivity—no one else shares her vision of the spectral past, rendering her a figure apart, burdened by her memories.
The Supernatural as a Metaphor for Grief
While the spectral imagery may suggest a haunted house in a literal sense, it functions more profoundly as a metaphor for the enduring presence of grief. The dead faces and murmuring voices represent the weight of unhealed emotional wounds. The "spell of power" that allows the woman to perceive these apparitions is not a supernatural gift but an affliction of memory and sorrow.
Isolation and Alienation
The recurring motif of "one alone" draws attention to the protagonist's estrangement from the world around her. Guests and children move freely through the house, untouched by its spectral resonance, but the protagonist remains tethered to the echoes of the past. Her “deep-seeing eyes” and “quick heart and watchful ear” signify a heightened perception that isolates her from others.
Imagery
Hemans employs vivid, sensory imagery to evoke the spectral atmosphere of the poem. The "gray gleaming hall," "elm-shadows," and "woodbine-flowers" ground the setting in a natural, decaying beauty, while descriptions of "startling faces of the dead" and "whispers clear" create an eerie, otherworldly aura. This interplay between the concrete and the ethereal mirrors the tension between memory and the present.
Symbolism
Alliteration and Assonance
Hemans frequently employs alliteration to heighten the musicality of the poem. For instance, phrases like “soft and low” and “midst gay songs and children’s play” emphasize the contrasting tones of the living and the dead. Assonance, as in “pale, yet sweet” or “see’st thou yon gray gleaming hall,” creates an echoing effect, mimicking the haunting voices.
Contrast
The poem contrasts the vibrant, untroubled lives of others with the protagonist’s melancholy state. Children “with sweet visions blessed” sleep peacefully, while the protagonist lies “unslumbering.” Similarly, her former life, described as “fair, and happy, and beloved,” is starkly opposed to her current loneliness.
The Haunted House by Felicia Hemans is a poignant meditation on the enduring power of memory and grief. Through its spectral imagery and gothic tones, the poem captures the isolating effects of loss, as well as the inescapable persistence of the past. The protagonist’s heightened sensitivity to the echoes of her former life renders her simultaneously privileged and cursed—gifted with the ability to see what others cannot, yet condemned to bear the weight of those visions alone. Hemans’ use of formal structure, vivid imagery, and thematic contrasts creates a richly layered poem that resonates with universal themes of love, loss, and the haunting nature of memory.