Question

Read the following villanelle, "The House on the Hill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Then, answer the question that follows.

They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.

Through broken walls and gray
The winds blow bleak and shrill:
They are all gone away.

Nor is there one to-day
To speak them good or ill:
There is nothing more to say.

Why is it then we stray
Around the sunken sill?
They are all gone away,

And our poor fancy-play
For them is wasted skill:
There is nothing more to say.

There is ruin and decay
In the House on the Hill:
They are all gone away,
There is nothing more to say.

The lines "They are all gone away,/ There is nothing more to say" are repeated throughout this villanelle. What is the effect of those repeated lines?

To create a joyful and upbeat mood
To express the grief of missing the past
To remind the reader to cherish their memories
To show how memories affect the speaker

Answer 1

The repeated lines in Robinson's villanelle create a mournful tone, conveying grief and a profound sense of loss and resignation, emphasizing the theme of finality and desolation.

Step-by-step explanation:

The villanelle, "The House on the Hill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, utilizes the lines "They are all gone away, / There is nothing more to say" as refrains to reinforce a theme of desolation and finality. The repetition of these lines throughout the poem underpins the poem's mournful tone and underscores a profound sense of loss and resignation to the passage of time. The use of the villanelle form, with its strict pattern of repetition, amplifies the haunting and obsessive quality of the speaker's ruminations on abandonment and decay. The effect is neither joyful nor a reminder to cherish memories, but rather to convey the speaker's grief and acceptance that there is no longer anything to be done or said about the past, creating a sense of hopelessness and finality.

Answer 2

Answer: To express the grief of missing the past