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The Narrow Doors

The Wide Door into Sorrow
Stands open night and day.
With head held high and dancing feet
I pass it on my way.

I never tread within it,
I never turn to see
The Wide Door into Sorrow.
It cannot frighten me.

The Narrow Doors to Sorrow
Are secret, still, and low:
Swift tongues of dusk that spoil the sun
Before I even know.

My dancing feet are frozen.
I stare.  I can but see.
The Narrow Doors to Sorrow
They stop the heart in me.

Oh, stranger than my midnights
Of loneliness and strife
The Doors that let the dark leap in
Across my sunny life!

Notes

From The Second Book of Modern Verse | 1919

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Comments

  • rhondasail
    January 31, 2007

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    There is always sorrow in life, much is expected, illness, death of an elder loved one-the 'Wide Door'; but it is the 'Narrow Doors', plural, that we never quite see. Suddenly we have 'danced' our way through them and our heart fails us. This poet has an effective way of revealing to us our own 'fear of the dark'. Well written seemingly from the perspective of a child, and yet we all can relate to this heart stopping fear.

  • mermaid7
    January 31, 2007

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    How I wish there was more knowledge about this poet! This poem reminds me of Robert Frost's, "The Road Not Taken", in that there are two roads before a person, and the person is left to wonder how his or her life would have fared if another choice had been made. "The Narrow Door" presents the reader with a slight variation: a wide door and narrow doors and both lead to sorrow. Knowing that the wide door holds no secrets (all is revealed), it becomes easy to make a decision to stay away. However, narrow doors only give small glimpses, so sorrow, as presented in this poem, is never escaped. Note how the language changes with the closeness to the narrow doors--the frozen feet, the heart stopping.... Compare the images used by the wide doors--no fright, non-concern (head held high)....By the last stanza, the sunny life has been corrupted. Love the line, "Oh stranger than my midnights." It's just a brilliant way to describe the what is the expected or the norm.