Haunted Houses – Contextual Q&A

Question 1

"All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.
We meet them at the doorway, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro."

(i) What is the poet's definition of a "haunted house"? (3)
(ii) How are the phantoms characterized and what does this reveal about them? (3)
(iii) How do the specific locations where we meet the phantoms contribute to the poem's imagery? (3)
(iv) What is the significance of the phrase "impalpable impressions on the air"? (3)
(v) How does this opening stanza establish the poem's central idea about the relationship between past and present? (4)

Answer:

(i) The poet defines a haunted house as any house where men have lived and died. This means every house contains memories and spiritual impressions of its former inhabitants. The definition is universal, suggesting that haunting is an inevitable part of human habitation.

(ii) The phantoms are described as "harmless," moving with "feet that make no sound." They are not evil or malevolent but peaceful and purposeful, going about "their errands." This characterization contradicts common superstitions about ghosts as terrifying beings, instead presenting them as gentle presences continuing their existence in the spaces they once inhabited.

(iii) The specific locations—doorway, stair, passages—are liminal spaces (thresholds and transitional areas). These are places of movement and passage, suggesting that ghosts are in transit, neither fully departed nor fully present. The detailed geography makes the haunting intimate and familiar rather than distant or abstract.

(iv) "Impalpable impressions on the air" means the ghosts cannot be touched or physically felt but can be sensed. The word "impalpable" suggests they exist beyond material reality, as psychological or spiritual impressions. This phrase conveys that the haunting is subtle, elusive and perceived through intuition rather than physical senses.

(v) The opening establishes that past and present coexist in the same space. The dead remain with their dwellings; they are not truly gone but continue to inhabit the houses they once lived in. This suggests that time is not linear but layered—multiple temporal moments occupy the same physical location, creating the complexity of human experience.

Question 2

"There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.
The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear."

(i) What does the image of "more guests at table than the hosts / Invited" suggest? (3)
(ii) Why is the comparison "as silent as the pictures on the wall" significant? (3)
(iii) What is the difference between what the "stranger" perceives and what the speaker perceives? (3)
(iv) What does the speaker's ability to see "all that has been" reveal about his nature? (3)
(v) How does this stanza develop the poem's exploration of different ways of seeing and knowing reality? (4)

Answer:

Question 3

"We have no title-deeds to house or lands;
Owners and occupants of earlier dates
From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,
And hold in mortmain still their old estates.
The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere; and everywhere
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
A vital breath of more ethereal air."

(i) What does "we have no title-deeds" mean in this context? (3)
(ii) What are the ghosts doing when they "stretch their dusty hands"? (3)
(iii) What does "mortmain" legally symbolize? (3)
(iv) How is the spirit-world's relationship to the earthly world described? (3)
(v) How does this stanza extend the poem's commentary on ownership, rights and the persistence of the past? (4)

Answer:

(i) The ghosts claim that they cannot legally own the houses they inhabit because they are dead and have no legal standing. "Title-deeds" refer to legal documents proving ownership. The ghosts exist in a realm beyond legal contracts and property rights, emphasizing their spiritual rather than material status.

(ii) The ghosts stretch their hands from their graves, trying to reclaim ownership of the houses and lands they once possessed. Despite being dead and buried, they refuse to relinquish their connection to or claim upon their former properties. The image is haunting—literally, spectral hands reaching back toward life and possession.

(iii) "Mortmain" (literally "dead hand") is a legal term referring to property held permanently by a religious institution or entity beyond mortal control. The ghosts "hold in mortmain still their old estates," suggesting they maintain an eternal, unchangeable grip on their properties even from beyond death. This invokes ancient property laws to make the eternal claim of the dead seem legally binding.

(iv) The spirit-world "floats like an atmosphere" around the earthly world, present everywhere yet invisible. It is not separate or distant but surrounding, interpenetrating and permeating material reality. The "vital breath of more ethereal air" wafting through the earthly mists suggests the spiritual realm provides life and meaning to the material world.

(v) This stanza suggests that ownership and legal rights are worldly, temporal concerns that cease at death. Yet the ghosts' claims persist eternally, challenging the very concept of property. The stanza argues that what is truly permanent is not material ownership but spiritual connection to places. Death does not break one's bond to the places one has lived; it merely transforms that bond into something invisible and intangible but more enduring than any legal title.

Question 4

"Our little lives are kept in equipoise
By opposite attractions and desires;
The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,
And the more noble instinct that aspires.
These perturbations, this perpetual jar
Of earthly wants and aspirations high,
Come from the influence of an unseen star,
An undiscovered planet in our sky."

(i) What does "equipoise" mean and what does it suggest about human life? (3)
(ii) What are the "opposite attractions and desires" that maintain this balance? (3)
(iii) How does the distinction between "instinct that enjoys" and "instinct that aspires" characterize human nature? (3)
(iv) What is the significance of attributing these "perturbations" to "an unseen star, / An undiscovered planet"? (3)
(v) How do these stanzas connect to the poem's overall exploration of haunting and the relationship between earthly and spiritual realms? (4)

Answer:

Question 5

"And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud
Throws o'er the sea a floating bridge of light,
Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd
Into the realm of mystery and night,—
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss."

(i) What is the simile comparing in these lines? (3)
(ii) What do the "trembling planks" of the moon's bridge symbolize? (3)
(iii) What does the "realm of mystery and night" represent? (3)
(iv) How is the spirit-world bridge different from the moon's bridge, and how is it similar? (3)
(v) How do these final lines consolidate the poem's exploration of the connection between living and spiritual realms? (4)

Answer:

(i) The simile compares the moon's light bridge across the sea to a spiritual bridge connecting the earthly and spirit worlds. Both are luminous connections between distant realms; both facilitate movement and passage; both are ethereal and intangible rather than physical. The comparison suggests that just as moonlight mysteriously spans physical distance, spiritual forces mysteriously connect material and immaterial realms.

(ii) The "trembling planks" suggest the bridge is unstable and precarious. Rather than solid wood, the planks tremble—indicating the bridge is made of insubstantial light that flickers and wavers. This symbolizes how our access to the spiritual realm through imagination, dreams and intuition is fragile, momentary and unreliable. The trembling also suggests emotion and instability—the path to mystery is inherently uncertain.

(iii) The "realm of mystery and night" represents the spiritual world, the unconscious mind, imagination and intuition. It is the domain beyond rational understanding, beyond material perception, the realm of dreams, visions and spiritual truth. Darkness and mystery characterize this realm, yet it is also luminous with spiritual light—suggesting it is both unknown and illuminated.

(iv) The moon's bridge is natural and eternal—it appears regularly as moonlight reflects off the sea. The spirit-world bridge "descends" (comes down) suggesting purposeful spiritual communication. Yet both are "unsteady," both tremble and sway, both are made of light rather than solid matter. Both connect distant realms and are traversed by imagination ("fancies" and "thoughts"). The similarity suggests that spiritual connection operates according to natural laws, not violations of nature.

(v) These lines provide the poetic climax, suggesting that the connection between living and spiritual realms is not rare or exceptional but natural, like moonlight. Our thoughts naturally and continually traverse this bridge, wandering above "the dark abyss" (the void between realms). The poem concludes by suggesting that the haunting of houses, the persistence of ghosts, and the intrusion of past into present are not violations of natural law but expressions of how the universe actually operates—with spiritual and material realms eternally connected through imagination, memory and thought.