# The Haunted House explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The poem depicts a haunted house and the psychological terror of a speaker who senses an impending, horrific event. The moon and trees are personified as witnesses to an unspeakable crime. The speaker calls upon winds, a sad woman, a child, a father, and a mother for help, and ultimately appeals to God for sorrow and relief. The house itself is portrayed as a living corpse, and the speaker struggles with guilt, memory, and the hope that love and divine grace can overcome despair.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Purification

The speaker's intense dread and the call for sorrow as a means of atonement reflect purification through suffering.

### Redemption and Grace

The plea for 'pardon sweet' and 'water of life' and the hope that love will kill despair point to redemption and divine grace.

### Spiritual Struggle and Doubt

The speaker's terror, questioning, and eventual turn to God illustrate a profound spiritual struggle.

## Character check-ins

### God

The speaker appeals to God for sorrow and relief, acknowledging that the criminal lives by God's spirit.

### Love

Invoked as 'Love, the all-shining' that will kill Despair.

### Death

Referenced through imagery of the dead, the skeleton, and the funeral pall.

### The Wind

Called upon to sweep and blow away the ghastly house and phantom.

## Key lines

> O God, he is but a living blot, Yet he lives by thee⁠—for if thou wast not, They would vanish together, self-forgot, He and his crime:⁠—one breathing blown From thy spirit on his would all atone, Scatter the horror, and bring relief In an amber dawn of holy grief! God, give him sorrow; arise from within, His primal being, deeper than sin!

The speaker prays that God will grant the sinner sorrow and repentance, which will cleanse him from within and bring relief.

_This passage encapsulates the theme of redemption through divine sorrow._

> God is in heaven⁠—yes, everywhere, And Love, the all-shining, will kill Despair!

The speaker reassures himself that God is omnipresent and that love will overcome despair.

_A moment of hope and faith in the midst of terror._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/the-haunted-house
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters