The House With Nobody In It Comments
Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track
I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.
I suppose I've passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute
And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it.
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An absolutely beautiful poem.He draws a vivid picture of a deserted house.At the last line it becomes someone with a broken heart.It really hurts to be deserted and lonely.
Loved your poem all though I cannot remember where this house stands, and I grow up in suffering in the 50’s -60s.
There was a Bar in Mahwah called Pelzars the name changed to No Body’s Inn.
I’ve not seen this one! No idea why not - but thank you for this! I memorized ‘Trees’ as a youngster as I absolutely love trees and his poem! I still love it. However that was the extent of most of my interest in poetry. Thank you for this wonderful poem! I’ll be looking up more of his works as well! 😘
I memorized that poem when I was in 6th grade and somehow after 50 years I still remember it
So did I! And so DO I! It comes into my head often, and there are a few houses that bring it to mind each and every time I pass them, like Kilmer’s house on “the Erie track”. When I give myself the time to sit and read it through, it often brings tears. I actually left a 35 year career in retail to become a carpenter at 52. Was a one or-two-man operation, and my favorite work was always on older houses.
I remember it too. Wrote it for my Exam Paper. It was in a school book called.. " The Golden Caravans" . Still remember that it started on page 145 and ended on page 147. Ah.. the good old days. Never again to be.
I also memorized this poem when in 6th grade. Wonder if we were classmates. Anyway, like Marty, I find this poem enters my mind frequently when viewing an abandoned house. Beautiful poem.
I was birn at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. I am from the Ramapo, once called Johnstown, now Harriman State Park. This poem was always a favorite of my mothers. And subsequently mine as well. I have read this to my children when they were young, it is a bit of a family tradition now. Strange maybe, but true!
my aunt gave me a little book called Silver Pennies..This poem was in it...Always thought of it when I see old abandoned houses...I still have the book with her signature...and dated 1945!
One of my favorite Kilmer poems. When my mom passed away, I got her copy of Kilmer poems letters
LOVE THIS POEM. STOOD AT THE PODEUM WITH A PACKED CHURCH AND FOUND THE COURAGE AND STRENGTH FROM MY MOM TO RECITE IT AT HER FUNERAL! !
My mother, who is going on 92, used to recite this poem to me as a child. Would love to see a picture of this house
I rode the Erie up to my grandfathers farm in Middletown from 1938 (when I learned this poem in school) until 1950 and looked for this house each trip. Assuming there was such a house, it was probably completely gone by then,35 or 40 years later. However, all those years I was disappointed I could never find it.
I suspect this poem may have been inspiration for Tom Waits' song House Where Nobody Lives
Yes, I think that is highly likely. Waits has been inspired, similarly by Edna Millay. His song: No One Knows I'm Gone. Can't remember the Millay poem at the moment.
My favorite poem by Mr. Kilmer. He echoes my thoughts every time I encounter a weary, abandoned place that once was home to someone, or a factory that once provided a living for so many people, The sadness overwhelms me.
I have seen homes like this in rural areas & it definitely sad! ! I too think about the lives lived in these houses.
One of the first poems I read as a very young child, and have loved it all of my life.
THAT IS SO RIGHT, ITS BEAUTIFUL. YOUVE GOT A HEART TO. EXACTLY HOW I FEEL WHEN I SEE THESE ABANDON PLACE. HISTORY! ! ! ! AMEN
It was almost 80 years ago...but seems like yesterday... that, during an assembly at my Hillside, NJ elementary school, the principal read this great and memorable poem to us.
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7/22/2025 8:43:08 PM # 1.0.0
What a wonderful poem. Very well depicted x