Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

1. What feelings are evoked by ‘haunted houses’? (Analysis)
2. In what way are all houses ‘haunted’? (Understanding and Analysis)
3. Why is the phrase ‘harmless phantoms’ unusual? (Analysts)
4. What kind of the spirit-world is conceived by the poet later in the context? (Understanding)
5. Where can we, according to the poet, meet ghosts? (Understanding)

Answer 1

1. Usually, haunted houses make people feel scared. But in this poem, the poet shows a different idea. He says that every house where people have lived and died has peaceful and harmless spirits. Instead of creating fear, these spirits make the house feel calm and full of memories.
2. The poet says that all houses are "haunted" because the memories or peaceful spirits of the people who once lived and died there remain. These are not scary ghosts but gentle reminders of the people who lived in the house before.
3. The phrase ‘harmless phantoms’ is unusual because phantoms or ghosts are |commonly perceived in popular belief as menacing, frightening, or harmful. Describing |them as ‘harmless’ challenges this conventional notion.
4. Later in the poem, the poet describes the spirit world as a light and peaceful atmosphere that surrounds our world. It is like a gentle breath that quietly exists along with our everyday life, even though we cannot see it.
5. According to the poet, we can feel the presence of ghosts or spirits at the doorway, on the stairs, and in the passages of a house. They cannot be touched or clearly seen, but they seem to move quietly from one place to another.