This Desirable Mansion
The story revolves around a deserted and eerie mansion where no one lives or visits anymore. The atmosphere is cold and lifeless, with weeds covering the pathways and spiders spinning webs on the stairs and hall. The only sounds are the sighs of ghosts from long-dead hours. The hearth is cold, and the door is locked, with only ghosts from the happy past and a mysterious figure who resembles them visiting the silent threshold.
By Edith Nesbit · First published 1902 · Genre: Poetry, Gothic, Horror · 151 words
First lines
The long white windows blankly stare Across the sodden, tangled grass, Weed-covered are the pathways where No footsteps ever pass; No whispers wake, no kisses die, No laughter thrills the dwindling flowers, Only the night hears sigh on sigh From ghosts of long-dead hours.
None come here now to laugh or weep; The spider spins on stair and hall, And round the windows shadows creep, And loathly creatures crawl.
Cold is the hearth; the door is fast; No guest the silent threshold sees Save ghosts out of the happy past, -- And one who is as these.
What this Textopian page supports
This Desirable Mansion is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edith Nesbit, dated 1902 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edith Nesbit
- Date: 1902 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Gothic, Horror, Romantic
- Length: 151 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for This Desirable Mansion by Edith Nesbit
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters
- What should a reader notice first when entering This Desirable Mansion?
- How does this poem by Edith Nesbit fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
- Where does Poetry first become important in the reading?
Similar titles
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- The Best Man by Edith Wharton
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is structured in verse form, with a rhythmic and rhyming pattern, typical of poetry.
- Gothic — The text features a desolate, abandoned mansion, a common setting in Gothic literature, and includes elements of the supernatural, such as ghosts.
- Horror — The text creates an atmosphere of fear and dread, with its descriptions of 'loathly creatures' and 'ghosts of long-dead hours', which are common elements in horror literature.
- Romantic — The text's focus on emotion, nature, and the past aligns with the Romantic genre.
Tags
Family · Marriage · Social Class · Wealth · Status · Inheritance · Country House · English Countryside · Rural Life · Upper Class · Gentry · Society