The House On Elm Street (Poem)
Class 10 | English | Unit 7
The House on Elm Street
Poem by Nadia Bush
It sat alone.
What happened there is still today unknown.
It is a very mysterious place,
And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,
But at the same time it is bare to the bone.
At night the house seems to be alive,
Lights flicker on and off.
I am often tempted to go to the house,
To just take a look and see what it is really about,
But fear takes over me.
I drive past the house almost every day.
The house seems to be a bit brighter
On this warm summer day in May.
It plays with your mind.
To me I say, it is one of a kind.
Beside the house sits a tree.
It never grows leaves,
Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.
It just sits there, never getting small or ever growing tall,
How could this be?
Rumors are constantly being made,
And each day the house just begins to fade.
What happened inside that house?
I really don't know.
I guess it will always be a mystery.
About the Poet
Nadia Bush - 'The House on Elm Street' was published by Nadia Bush, a budding poetess, in April 2017. Born on Sep. 24th, she lives in Somerset, Pennsylvania. She used this poem for her English class because she was told to write a 'dark' poem. The poem describes the mysterious house and a never-growing tree. The poet fears going inside the house.
Vocabulary
- Elm Street (n.) - one of the most common street names in the US
- flicker (v) - to shine unsteadily
- tempted (v) - provoked someone to do wrong
- rumors (Am.E) (n) - false stories
- fade (v.) - to vanish gradually
A. Read the given lines and answer the questions given below.
1.
It sat alone.
What happened there is still today unknown.
It is a very mysterious place,
And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,
But at the same time it is bare to the bone.
- a. What does 'It' refer to?
- b. Pick out the line that indicates the size of the house
2.
I drive past the house almost every day.
The house seems to be a bit brighter.
On this warm summer day in May.
It plays with your mind.
- a. Who does 'I' refer to?
- b. Pick out the alliterated words in the 2nd line.
3.
It never grows leaves,
Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.
It just sits there never getting small or ever growing tall.
- a. What does 'it' refer to?
- b. In what way the tree is a mystery?
4.
Rumors are constantly being made,
And each day the house just begins to fade.
What happened inside that house?
- a. Does the house remain the same every day?
- b. Why does the poet consider the house to be a mystery?
5.
What happened inside that house?
I really don't know
I guess it will always be a mystery.
- a. Does the poet know what happened in the house?
- b. What is mysterious about the house?
B. Answer the following in a paragraph.
- Where is the house located? Why is it a mysterious place?
- How is mystery depicted in the poem?
C. Read the poem and write the rhyming words and rhyme scheme for the given stanzas.
| Stanza | Rhyming words | Rhyme Scheme |
| 1 | alone - ____
____ - space | |
| 3 | ____ - May
mind - ____ | |
| 4 | tree - ____
____ - tall | |
D. Identify the poetic lines where the following figures of speech are employed and complete the tabular column.
| Figure of speech | Meaning | Lines |
| Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.
e.g. "The Western wave was all a-flame."
The "Western wave" is a synecdoche as it refers to the sea by the name of one of its parts i.e. wave. | |
| Paradox | A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself.
e.g. To bring peace we must war.
Be cruel to be kind. | |
| Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech wherein the word imitates the sound associated with the object it refers to.
e.g. Pitter patter, pitter patter
Raindrops on my pane. | |
| Rhetorical Questions | A figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer.
e.g. And what is so rare as a day in June? | |
Practice Practice Exercises
a. What does 'It' refer to?
b. Pick out the line that indicates the size of the house?
a. To whom does 'I' refer to?
b. Pick out the alliterated words in the 2nd line.
a. What does 'it' refer to?
b. In what way the tree is a mystery?
a. Does the house remain the same every day?
b. How does the poet consider the house to be a mystery?
a. Does the poet know what happened in the house?
b. What is the mystery about the house?
1. Where is the house located? Why is it a mysterious place?
2. How is the mystery depicted in the poem?
- space
Mind
tall -