Stafford's Cabin by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Stafford’s Cabin” recounts a local legend about a vanished cabin and its solitary owner, Stafford. The speaker knows only what an old man once told him: long ago, people found the cabin after someone on the mountain had heard a terrible cry and seen a distant light. The building had burned, with an iron bar behind it and chains around it, yet the searchers could find no trace of whoever or whatever had been with Stafford. Stafford had been a capable but withdrawn man whose manner unsettled others. The old man insists that the mystery can never be cleared away; the remnants of the cabin, including the bar and chains, were buried, leaving only an apple tree. Forty years later, the speaker revisits the deserted site, now marked by that tree and overgrown with golden-rod.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Mystery, Gothic Poetry · 407 words
First lines
ONCE there was a cabin here, and once there was a man; / And something happened here before my memory began.
Time has made the two of them the fuel of one flame
What this Textopian page supports
Stafford's Cabin is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1910 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1910 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Mystery, Gothic Poetry, Horror Poetry, Ballad
- Length: 407 words
- Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Stafford's Cabin by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Narrative Poetry — The poem recounts the remembered story of Stafford, his isolated cabin, a violent unexplained event, and the later disappearance of all evidence.
- Mystery — Its central subject is an unresolved occurrence: a scream, a light, ashes, chains, and an iron bar offer clues without revealing who or what was with Stafford.
- Gothic Poetry — The ruined isolated cabin, obscured past, ominous physical remnants, possible haunting, and persistent atmosphere of dread are strongly Gothic.
- Horror Poetry — The master shriek, apparent destruction of the cabin, inexplicable chains, and suggestion of an unknown presence create restrained psychological horror.
Tags
poetry · American literature · narrative verse · modernist poetry · psychological portrait · rural setting · isolation · loneliness · memory · mortality · disillusionment · human relationships