Home Burial Death Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1

"The little graveyard where my people are!
So small the window frames the whole of it.
Not so much larger than a bedroom, is it?" (24-26)

The husband has grown up with this graveyard nearby, so death, for him, is a fact of life that's always present. It's also kind of weird that he would compare the graveyard, where people are buried when their lives are over, to the bedroom, where many lives get their first beginnings, but hey, it's all part of the circle of life for this guy.

Quote #2

"[…] it is not the stones,
But the child's mound— —" (30-31)

Here, the man shows that he sees what's bothering the woman, though in a sense he doesn't. He says that the gravestones are no big deal, and that it's the child's grave that is really bothering her. We get the sense that she's bothered mostly by the child's mound, yes, but that she's still unnerved by the stones, and the fact that death is so close to her, day in and day out.

Quote #3

"Can't a man speak of his own child he's lost?" (37)

One of the biggest problems in this poem is that, no, this couple cannot speak to each other about death. Again and again, they miss the mark in understanding the other's emotions and reactions. Note how the word "lost" here is used as a euphemism. The husband may have a graveyard on his property, but he still won't talk about death plainly.