Household GodsPhilip Hobsbaum, The Pattern of Poetry (1962)

“I mirrored their breaking lives, I saw their paleDistraught coming and going, lined despair,His shaken bulk, her calm pose in the doorway—I saw them. I was there.”

5          “I have so long been silent, even nowHardly at all remember how her slimLong fingers once caressed me—was that howAt one time she touched him?”

“His lips on mine in the morning, or, in darkness,10        After a happy embrace, warmed my clay.

Where is the firm mouth now, where the kiss?Broken and swept away.”

“They lay me down to serve their steady feet,How many times they strode over my pile!

15         Of late those steps were tentative. Now, a streetFor strangers, I am so much jute and wool.”

“Bit by bit they painted my walls, the ceiling,Made me in terms of their vision—I was glad.But signs of time flake down, the walls are peeling,

20         What is a house when occupants are fled?”

“My hands repeat themselves, so does not time.The climactial moment is past, whoever will come.I gather myself to cough one cautious chime,But the works are rusted. Henceforth I am dumb.”

25        “I mirrored their coming here, I see their going,Together once, now separately. Their outerSemblance concerns me. I have no way of knowingTheir motives, or their reasons for departure.”

“Dust settles in the fireplace, and the curtains

creates imagery of the man holding the cup on a cold day to keep warm

sense of loneliness

brings up the question of whether or not a house is a home without its occupants?

reinforces the idea that it is a ceramic cup

personification of a mirror

imagery, signifies a face that is frowning and upset

conveys an image of the couple’s steps becoming shaky and unsure

the piano is sat and doleful that it has not been played for a long time

each household “god” gets four lines each because represent equal opinions of the couple’s breakup

the times of happiness are over

House expressing its grief for a couple breaking up - shows that when a couple breaks up, it affects everyone

sad tone, word choices: breaking, distraught, despair

personification, perspective of a door

personification of a cup

personification of a grandfather clock

the word steady means to be stable, firm - very much like the couple initially

shows the sentimental value of the rug is no longer there

memory of the divorced couple

semblance: the outward appearance or apparent form of something, esp. when the reality is different: she tried to force her thoughts back into some semblance of order.

shows how the house was giving an identity

evokes a sad, lonely feeling

personification of a piano

30          Hang without a purpose in neat folds.The books are stacked, chairs not to be sat onGrouped over-nicely in a house grown cold.”

“I see no more. Their life gave our lives meaning,But broken homes will not set again.

35        Their parting was our dissolution, theyWill never know their household gods are slain.”

they destroyed the house and what it meant as a home hence, the “gods” are slain

metaphor for resetting bones

if people no longer believe in the house, the “gods”, does the god exist?

depicts the house as lifeless

everything in the house has an identity and the “household gods” live alongside this couple. They provided things for the people - cups to drink, etc like a god.

life = the married couple

the home itself broke apart

personification of the whole house