The Altar by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Name: The Altar
Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson

In “The Altar,” a solitary speaker dreams of finding a remote, fiery altar whose intense light promises ascent and draws a human multitude toward its consuming flame. Though love and sorrow warn against it, the crowd is driven by an irresistible impulse to seek the fire. The speaker judges the world to be wrong, yet awakens possessed by the same restless fever that animates the martyr-like throng. He recognizes himself as a bewildered insect still rushing toward the flame, convinced that its burning must somehow serve the best end.

By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Lyric poetry, Sonnet, Philosophical poetry · 132 words

First lines

ALONE, remote, nor witting where I went, / I found an altar builded in a dream -

A fiery place, whereof there was a gleam

So swift, so searching, and so eloquent

Of upward promise, that love's murmur, blent

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The Altar is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1910 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
Date: 1910 CE
Language: English
Genres: Lyric poetry, Sonnet, Philosophical poetry, Symbolist poetry, Dream vision poetry
Length: 132 words
Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Lyric poetry — The work is a short, highly subjective poem centered on a speaker's inward vision, emotional response, and reflective awakening.
Sonnet — It consists of fourteen lines and uses a structured rhyme pattern, placing it within the sonnet tradition despite its individual variation.
Philosophical poetry — The poem meditates on humanity's restless attraction to destructive aspiration and questions whether suffering and sacrifice serve a larger good.
Symbolist poetry — The altar, flame, stream, insect, and dream operate as symbolic images rather than literal plot elements, conveying desire, martyrdom, and compulsive human striving.