The Dead Village by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The poem portrays a village consumed by death and desolation. Though people were once joyful there and children played, a change came that silenced its music and erased its life, love, children, and men. Only ghostly remnants remain beneath a dreamlike, forgotten light, as if God has frowned upon the place and shut it from His sight.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Gothic Poetry, Dark Poetry · 140 words
First lines
HERE there is death. But even here, they say, / Here where the dull sun shines this afternoon
As desolate as ever the dead moon
Did glimmer on dead Sardis, men were gay; / And there were little children here to play,
With small soft hands that once did keep in tune
Similar titles
- Recalled by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Souvenir by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Two Gardens In Linndale by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Two Sonnets by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Afterthoughts by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Leonora by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a short, highly condensed poem driven by imagery, mood, sound, and emotional reflection rather than narrative plot.
- Gothic Poetry — Its desolate setting, ghosts, death, vanished inhabitants, dreamlike light, and sense of supernatural abandonment create a distinctly Gothic atmosphere.
- Dark Poetry — The poem centers on death, emptiness, lost joy, spiritual estrangement, and the complete extinction of village life.
- Elegy — It mourns a vanished community, especially its former children, music, love, and human vitality, treating the village as something irretrievably dead.
Tags
poetry · American literature · early twentieth century · rural setting · New England · abandoned community · village life · decay · mortality · memory · nostalgia · isolation
What this Textopian page supports
The Dead Village 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: Lyric Poetry, Gothic Poetry, Dark Poetry, Elegy, Symbolist Poetry
- Length: 140 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Dead Village by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph