What does this poem mean?

Question

The peom by Robert frost:
The Lockless Door

It went many years,
But at last came a knock,
And I thought of the door
With no lock to lock.

I blew out the light,
I tip-toed the floor,
And raised both hands
In prayer to the door.

But the knock came again
My window was wide;
I climbed on the sill
And descended outside.

Back over the sill
I bade a "Come in"
To whoever the knock
At the door may have been.

So at a knock
I emptied my cage
To hide in the world
And alter with age.

Answer 1

I sure do love Robert Frost poems. This one is pretty intruiging. I think it's about being afraid to meet this person- so afraid that he left his house instead of opening the door to see who it was. The interesting thing to me was that it was like he just gave up his home to whoever was knocking. To him that was more appealing than having to be there to face whoever was there. He can't hide in his cage anymore, that's interesting...cool poem. I'm sure it has a much deeper meaning but that's all I could get from it.

Answer 2

The poem is about a man who runs away from his conscience. He climbs out of the window because he is afraid of whatever is knocking. He actually runs away when he "empties his cage to hide in the world." He is afraid of what his conscience might bring him, and him hiding to alter with age means that we will never be able to overcome it; he'll be hiding for the rest of his life. The door without a lock represents how close he is to overcoming his conscience, but each knock brings him further away from it.

Answer 3

With an e e cummings poem, saying "This is what it means to me" is like trying to nail Jello to a tree. This poem has always seemed very pro-feminist, or at least anti anti-feminist. It talks about independent thinking to me. Effie (a name that sounds suspiciously like the word "iffy") apparently never thought for herself and all that's left of her crumbly brain is a bunch of subjunctives: woulda, coulda ,shoulda, musta. Even God looks on those 6 crumbs with puzzlement; even His omniscience can't fathom why a person would live her life allowing others to think for her.

Answer 4

I think it's about facing your fears. This seems like someone that maybe had a child and gave it up for adoption and now the child is knocking on the door for the first time and this person knows and has been waiting for this day but is scared.

Answer 5

What I get from is, is that the person got an unexpected knock his door to life. And not knowing what to do or what to expect from it he ran and hid from it. But he still asked that whatever lay beyond that door to come through so it could proceed with what it had to do with life, but not particuallry with his life. That last one notes that he emptied his cage, meaning that he fled from that door so that he could hide away from it and grow older and not know exactly what it is that the "knock at his door" could have done with his life. Atleast that is what I got out of it. :)

Answer 6

The Lockless Door is a story of self escape.

Answer 7

It seems like a metaphor for being freed from a mental prison. He felt he was bound to a certain way of existence, but a knock revealed an outside world to him that he preferred and chose to live in for a long time..

Answer 8

It's about not really being protected and how a man will be something other than his true self in order to protect himself.

Answer 9

that poem has another name.... its called the cat burglers rhyme. and it was recited by jewish or asian people before they were going to steal your belongings just after the world war 2 ironically just after we tried to save them from extinction.

Answer 10

It sounds like he would not let people into his life, and hopes that it may change in the future, lonely man.