Moving In by Ruth Collie (1928)
"Moving In" is a short observational poem by Ruth Collie in which the speaker stands at the kerb watching a stranger's furniture and belongings carried from a moving van into a new home. Item by item, the speaker builds an imagined portrait of the unknown family: a piano provokes a wish that the moving men won't bump it against the door; a basket seems to hold a cat; a roll of blue linoleum promises a bright kitchen floor. The speaker admits total ignorance of who these people are, yet insists that "all the world's akin," finding kinship in the sight of a comfortable-looking chair and a cheerful rug carried past. The poem catalogues further domestic goods — a large roll of blinds the speaker hopes will fit the windows, a garden roller, a bright red watering-can — each object sparking small, tender speculation about the household's future daily life. A shift comes with the discovery, via a high chair, that the family includes a baby; the speaker had been waiting to confirm this. Further baby furnishings follow: a new, shiny white high chair, a pale blue wardrobe, and a little wooden tree meant for hanging small garments while the baby sleeps at night. The poem closes by returning to its refrain, the pleasure of standing at the kerb to watch a "Moving-in," with tables, chairs, and curtain-rods passing by — mundane household objects that, in the speaker's sentimental reading, unite all of humanity in shared domestic hope. Structurally the poem relies on a cumulative, list-like technique: rather than narrating an event, it strings together glimpsed objects, using each as a small emotional prompt. The tone is warm, whimsical, and unabashedly sentimental — the speaker's heart is described as being "tugged" by the sight of strangers' possessions, and not knowing the family at all is treated as irrelevant to the depth of feeling aroused. This turns an ordinary, mundane urban scene — a moving day — into an occasion for reflecting on common humanity: the idea that the private, domestic furnishings of a stranger's life (a rug, a watering-can, a baby's wardrobe) are enough to create instant sympathy and a sense of shared human experience, since everyone, regardless of identity, sets up a home in broadly similar ways. The recurring phrase "makes... akin" functions as the poem's thematic anchor, uniting its many small, itemized observations into a single sentiment about universal domesticity and quiet neighborly goodwill. The piece belongs to a light, popular verse tradition — likely part of a collection of everyday-life vignettes — that finds its material in ordinary street scenes and turns momentary curiosity about strangers into an affirmation of common human bonds through the humble evidence of household goods.
By Ruth Collie · First published 1928 · Genre: Poetry, Domestic Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 262 words
First lines
Yes, they have a piano -- very glad of that. Hope the men won't bump / it going through the door. Looks as if that basket contains a / pussy-cat. Roll of blue linoleum to grace the kitchen floor. Love / to stand upon the kerb and watch a "Moving-in," makes the blood run / warmly, gives the heart-strings such a tug. Don't know the people, / but all the world's akin (that's a comfy-looking chair and that's a / cheerful rug). Don't know the people, matters not a bit, all the / dreams they're dreaming are trooping from the van. Look at that / large roll of blinds, oh, I hope they'll fit! There's a garden / roller and a bright red watering-can. Yes, they have a baby -- had to / wait to see. High chair is coming, it's new and shiny white, and / there's a pale blue wardrobe and a little wooden tree on which to / hang small garments whilst Baby sleeps at night. Love to stand upon / the kerb and watch a "Moving-in" -- tables, chairs, and curtain-rods, / make all the world akin.
What this Textopian page supports
Moving In is listed on Textopian as a poem by Ruth Collie, dated 1928 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Ruth Collie
- Date: 1928 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Domestic Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Sentimental Literature, Observational Realism
- Length: 262 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Moving In by Ruth Collie
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is composed in verse form with rhyming couplets and rhythmic meter, utilizing line breaks and stanzaic structure characteristic of lyric poetry.
- Domestic Poetry — The entire subject centers on household objects, family life, and the intimate domestic sphere, cataloging furniture, baby items, and home furnishings with domestic specificity.
- Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses personal, subjective emotion and reflection through sensory imagery and emotional language, conveying the speaker's intimate response to an observed scene.
- Sentimental Literature — The work emphasizes emotional attachment to ordinary domestic scenes with phrases like 'makes the blood run warmly' and 'gives the heart-strings such a tug,' evoking deep feeling about commonplace experience.
Tags
children's fiction · moving house · new home · family life · neighbours · adjustment · friendship · community · everyday life · growing up · change · belonging