Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HOUSE AND HOME, by WALT MASON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HOUSE AND HOME, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I own my house, but have no home,' said
Last Line: "start."
Subject(s): Home; Houses


"I OWN my house, but have no home," said J. Augustus Cork, as wearily he tried
to comb his whiskers with a fork. "My house is strictly up-to-date, with every
modern fad, and visitors pronounce it great, and think I should be glad. An
English butler buttles round, and wields a frozen stare; imported maids are on
the ground, to comb my lady's hair. And I have works of art to burn, all swell
and reshershay, with here a bust or Grecian urn, and there 'The Stag at Bay.' No

kids along the hallway rush, or bump along the stair, but over all's a solemn
hush, as though a corpse were there. The kids would like full well to romp, and

raise a howdydo, but they must live up to our pomp and vulgar noise eschew. I
have a house but not a home, and hence my air of gloom; this mansion, with its
gaudy dome, is cheerless as a tomb. I'd like to swap this swell abode, with all

its works of art, for that cheap cottage down the road, where first we made our

start."





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