can you help me for this poem?!thanks?

Question

Empty House by Stephen Spender

I'm from Italy and I need your help for a test: can you tell me something to tell the teacher about this poem?for example what do you feel reading it or something about the structure..thanks you a lot!

EMPTY HOUSE

Then,when the child was gone,
I was alone
In the house, suddenly grown vast.Each noise
Explained its orign away
Animal , vegetable , mineral ,
Nail,creaking board, or little mouse.
But mostly there was quiet of after a battle
Round the room where lay
The soldiers and the paint-box , all the toys.
Then, when I went to tidy these away,
My hands refused to serve:
My body was this house,
Each plaything that he’d touched, an exposed nerve.

thanks!

Answer 1

i think maybe the poem is about a child who has died and the pain, anguish and silence that the narrator now feels in the empty house which had once been made a battle ground of an ill child.
The exposed nerves basically means that each thing that the child has touched has practically been grown over with nerves and maybe the narrator is unable to touch these things in fear of breaking down in pain.
There is also a sense of isolation - since this presumed death the house has grown large and every noise is heard because of this.

Answer 2

this is a very sad poem. It seems as though the child has died, or gone away. The narrator is reminded of the child's loss by the presence of the toys and the silence of the house. When the child was there, playing with his soldiers, the house seemed smaller because of the toys everywhere and the child running around, making a noise.
The narrator cannot force himself to put the toys away, because he knows that they will never be taken out again. Thinking about putting the toys away is so painful; it is as though you are putting your child away for good and when your child dies, you want to keep everything the same so that you can pretend to yourself that they will come home at any moment.

Answer 3

Empty House Poem

Answer 4

sounds like a child has passed away,maybe violently coming from the words "after a battle" and how the parent doesn't want to tidy away the child's things as the house already seems empty, and every toy holds a separate memory.

hope this helps x

Answer 5

I think this poem perfectly captures the sense of loss that a parent feels when a child leaves home. The sense of emptiness and desolation is expressed in the description of the abandoned toys. I find it quite moving and touching.

That's my interpretation, if it's of any use to you, feel free to use it!

Oh, and to practise my incredibly bad Italian, Buona Sera!

Answer 6

It's about a young child who has died and the parent's feelings about it.