The Mill by Edwin Arlington Robinson
A miller’s wife waits alone as the tea grows cold and the fire dies. When her husband finally speaks, he says only, “There are no millers any more,” then remains at the door so long that the moment seems to stretch into yesterday. Overcome by an undefined fear, she goes to the mill, where its warm, mealy smell evokes the past. There she finds something hanging from a beam, indifferent to her presence. Believing it follows her, she considers the black, smooth water above the weir, which would quickly regain its untroubled appearance and leave no mark.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Tragedy, Gothic Poetry · 206 words
First lines
THE MILLER'S wife had waited long, / The tea was cold, the fire was dead; / And there might yet be nothing wrong
In how he went and what he said:
"There are no millers any more,"
Was all that she heard him say; / And he had lingered at the door
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Genres
- Narrative Poetry — The poem tells a compressed but complete story of a miller, his wife, implied suicide, and her subsequent movement toward the mill and weir.
- Tragedy — Its plot centers on despair, death, and the suggestion that the wife will follow her husband into suicide, creating an inexorably fatal conclusion.
- Gothic Poetry — The cold fire, dark mill, hanging body, shapeless fear, black water, and nocturnal setting create an atmosphere of dread, death, and haunted isolation.
- Psychological Poetry — The poem closely renders the wife's fearful realization and ambiguous inner reasoning as she confronts grief, horror, and possible self-destruction.
Tags
narrative poetry · tragedy · rural life · marriage · suicide · death · grief · isolation · economic hardship · labor · industrial decline · psychological despair
What this Textopian page supports
The Mill is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 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: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Tragedy, Gothic Poetry, Psychological Poetry, Dark Romanticism
- Length: 206 words
- Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Mill by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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