W.D. Snodgrass: Poems Literary Elements

The poem 'A Locked House,' is written from the point of view of a first person narrator, talking about their house and their marriage. The speaker is possibly Snodgrass himself.

The poem consists of five octaves, written in rhyming couplets.

The slightly disgusting imagery in the simile 'We'd said love, like a growth, can feed on hate we turn in and disguise,' reveals a deep-seeded problem that the couple feel they are aware enough of to avoid. The metaphor in 'the theft and vandalism were our own,' ties the poem together by linking their trivial, joking fears with the reality that came through the breakdown of their own relationship, rather than through a break-in.

The alliteration in 'a fool's fear,' emphasizes the folly of their trivial fears for their house, that they jokingly consider and is juxtaposed against the sibilance in the cliche 'safe and sound.' the fear for the house and the reality are totally different, in the same way that the couple's expectations for their relationship are different from the outcome in the end.

The irony in this poem, lies in the consideration of their situation retrospectively and the reflection on their assurances, 'We two are stronger than we were apart,' and 'we know what counts.' In the end, the speaker concludes, 'maybe we should have known,' as their relationship breaks down, despite their assurances.

Reflective/Romantic

Reflecting on an old house 'hidden in the trees,' and on their marriage in the past.

melancholic, sad, reflective.

The protagonist is the speaker and the antagonist turns out to be the speaker's partner, although there isn't an obvious conflict or fight in the poem itself.

Again, the conflict does not take place in the poem - there marriage or relationship seems to break down outside the scope of the narration. There is also a conflict between their expectations for their relationship and the outcome.

There isn't a major build in the poem but the sentence 'the house still stands, locked, as it stood untouched a good two years after you went,' reveals a shift in events that is the real pivotal point to the poem.

The speaker's comment 'maybe I should have thought: all such things rot, fall-' foreshadows the breakdown of their marriage/relationship.

'Some things slipped away,' implies a gentle loss of things, which may be accurate, but could also be an understatement.

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The house represents so much more than just a home. It represents their desire and love for each other, or so it is thought from the start. They imply that the house doesn't actually matter,that they 'know what counts,' yet in the end the house remains and their marriage/relationship breaks down.

The description of love feeding 'on hate we turn in and disguise,' personifies the abstract construct of love, although not in the way we expect. It makes it seem disruptive and presents it seemingly gorging on its opposite, hate.

The 'fool's fear' that the house may 'have caught fire,' or that, 'someone could have broken in,' seems a hyperbolic reaction to seeing the house.

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