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Haunted Houses (Longfellow): Ghosts, Stanzas | ICSE Class 10

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English LiteratureICSE Class 10 · Haunted Houses

Haunted Houses (Longfellow): Harmless Phantoms, the Stranger and the Bridge of Light

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

In Haunted Houses, Longfellow says every house where people have lived and died is haunted, but the 'phantoms' are harmless: the silent presence of the past. The poet, unlike a stranger at his fireside, sees both the present and the past, and the poem ends with the image of a bridge of light linking the spirit world to ours.

Understand Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses)

Exam pattern. The 2025 paper and the 2027 specimen asked what the speaker sees at his fireside that the stranger cannot (both the present and the past). A 16-mark extract could ask about the phantoms, the title-deeds, the balance of instincts and the closing simile.

Form. Ten four-line stanzas rhyming abab, by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in Treasure Chest. The title misleads: it is not a ghost story.

Stanza by stanza.

  • *1-2:* All houses where people have lived and died are haunted. The phantoms are harmless, gliding on errands through open doors without a sound. We meet them at the doorway and on the stairs, faint impressions in the air.
  • *3:* At a dinner party there are more guests than the hosts invited; the hall is full of quiet, inoffensive ghosts, as silent as the pictures on the wall.
  • *4:* A stranger at the poet's fireside perceives only what is; to the poet all that has been is visible and clear.
  • *5:* No one has real title-deeds to houses and lands; earlier owners stretch out dusty hands from forgotten graves and still hold their old estates (mortmain).
  • *6:* The spirit world surrounds this world of the senses like an atmosphere and sends through its mists a breath of purer air.
  • *7-8:* Our little lives are kept in equipoise (balance) by two opposite pulls: the instinct that enjoys and the nobler instinct that aspires. The conflict comes from the influence of an unseen star, an undiscovered planet in our sky.
  • *9-10:* As the moon, coming from behind a dark cloud, throws a floating bridge of light across the sea, over whose trembling planks our imaginations travel into the realm of mystery and night, so from the spirit world a bridge of light descends and connects it with ours.

Devices. Paradox (harmless phantoms in haunted houses); simile (silent as the pictures on the wall; the moonlit bridge); extended simile (the bridge of light); metaphor (the unseen star); imagery (dusty hands from graves); the abab rhyme scheme.

Themes. The presence of the past; perception and imagination; the impermanence of ownership; the material and the spiritual.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

  • All houses wherein men have lived and died / Are haunted houses.

    The poet: The opening lines.

    The central idea: the past lives on in every home.

  • He but perceives what is; while unto me / All that has been is visible and clear.

    The poet: Stanza 4, about the stranger.

    Contrasts the stranger's view of the present with the poet's vision of the past.

  • Our little lives are kept in equipoise / By opposite attractions and desires;

    The poet: Stanza 7.

    Human life is a balance between earthly pleasure and noble aspiration.

Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses): key facts

Who sees what
stranger: what is | poet: what is and what has been
The MCQ distractors swap who sees what.
Stanza ideas in one line
  • harmless phantoms
  • crowded dinner table
  • poet and stranger
  • title-deeds
  • spirit world
  • equipoise
  • bridge of light
Learn one phrase per stanza group.
Devices
  • paradox
  • simile
  • extended simile
  • metaphor
  • imagery
  • abab rhyme
Quote the exact words when asked.

How to answer Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses) questions

Use this for a stanza-based extract question.

  1. 1State the idea of the stanza in one sentence.
  2. 2For 'words from the poem', quote the exact word and then explain.
  3. 3Explain the figure of speech and its effect.
  4. 4Link the stanza to the central idea or the closing bridge of light.
  5. 5For message parts, state the theme in one sentence.

Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses) in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

The past that lives in a place

Suppose a family moves into an old house and finds a height chart pencilled on a door frame by earlier children, a worn step and a faded name on a cupboard. Without ever meeting the former family, they feel its presence in the house.

Which idea in Haunted Houses does this illustrate, and why is the 'ghost' harmless?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Traces of earlier lives remain in the house.
  2. The family sees the past through these traces.
  3. No fear arises because nothing threatens them.

Answer: It illustrates the idea that houses are 'haunted' by the memory and influence of those who lived there. The presence is harmless because it is only a trace of the past, not a ghost that harms the living.

Memory hook: Ghosts here are memories.

Tricks to remember Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses)

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

  • Is and Has Been

    Stranger: is. Poet: is and has been.

    Use it when: The fireside MCQ.

  • H-D-P-T-S-E-B

    Harmless, Dinner, Poet, Title-deeds, Spirit, Equipoise, Bridge.

    Use it when: The order of the stanza ideas.

Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses): solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: The unseen star · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

In the poem the 'unseen star' or 'undiscovered planet' is a metaphor for:
(a) a real planet not yet found (b) the influence of the spirit world (c) the moon (d) the poet's house

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. It explains the conflict between earthly wants and high aspirations (0.5).
  2. That unseen influence is the spirit world (0.5).

Answer: (b) the influence of the spirit world.

Example 2: Why the phantoms are harmless (3 marks) · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

Why does the poet call the phantoms 'harmless'? Quote one phrase from the opening stanza that shows how they move.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. They are the memory of the dead, not frightening ghosts (1).
  2. They glide on errands (1).
  3. Feet that make no sound (1).

Answer: The phantoms are harmless because they are the lingering memory and influence of those who lived and died in the house, not frightening ghosts. They 'glide' through the open doors on their errands, and the phrase 'feet that make no sound' shows they cause no disturbance to the living.

Example 3: The title-deeds (4 marks) · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level

What does the poet say about our ownership of houses and lands? Explain 'dusty hands' in this context.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. No real title-deeds (1).
  2. Earlier owners still hold estates (1).
  3. Dusty hands from forgotten graves (1).
  4. Impermanence of ownership (1).

Answer: The poet says that we have no true title-deeds to our houses or lands, because earlier owners still hold their old estates. The dead stretch their dusty hands from forgotten graves, as if keeping a legal grip on the property. The image makes the hold of the past vivid and a little grim. It suggests that ownership is temporary: we too will pass and leave our homes to others, so we are only the latest occupants.

Example 4: Equipoise (4 marks) · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level

The poet says human life is a balance of two opposite instincts. Name them and say what he suggests is the source of their struggle.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Meaning of equipoise (1).
  2. Two opposite instincts (1).
  3. Unseen star (1).
  4. Spirit world (1).

Answer: Equipoise means a balance. Our little lives are balanced by two opposite pulls: the instinct that enjoys worldly pleasures and the more noble instinct that aspires to higher things. The poet says this struggle comes from the influence of an unseen star, an undiscovered planet in our sky. This is a metaphor for the spirit world, which acts on human life and keeps the material and the spiritual in tension.

Example 5: The final image (4 marks) · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Why is the image of the moon's bridge of light a suitable ending for the poem? Give two reasons.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Describe the image (1).
  2. Reason 1: connection between worlds (1).
  3. Reason 2: gentle mystery and the poem's calm mood (1).
  4. Link to the central idea (1).

Answer: The poem ends with the moon throwing a floating bridge of light across the sea, which our imaginations cross, and the spirit world sending a similar bridge to ours. It is suitable first because it sums up the poem's idea that the seen and unseen worlds are connected, as the past is connected to the present. Second, its soft, trembling, moonlit image keeps the calm, reflective mood of the poem and turns the idea of ghosts into one of wonder, not fear. It therefore completes the movement from haunted houses to the spirit world.

Where students lose marks in Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses)

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

  • Mistake: Treating the ghosts as frightening

    The poet calls them harmless and silent.

    Wrong working

    The poet describes terrifying ghosts.

    Right working

    The phantoms are harmless memories of past residents.

    Do this: Quote 'harmless' and 'no sound'.

    Usually costs: 2 marks

  • Mistake: Swapping who sees what in the fireside stanza

    The poet sees both; the stranger only the present.

    Wrong working

    The stranger sees the past.

    Right working

    The stranger sees only what is; the poet sees what is and what has been.

    Do this: Use the memory 'Is and Has Been'.

    Usually costs: 1 mark

  • Mistake: Naming a device without quoting

    Examiners want the exact words.

    Wrong working

    There is a simile in the poem.

    Right working

    'As silent as the pictures on the wall' is a simile.

    Do this: Always quote, then explain the effect.

    Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks

Exam tips

  • State what each stanza says in one sentence before answering.
  • Quote exact words when asked for 'words from the poem'.
  • Link the stanza to the closing image of the bridge of light.
  • Use the abab rhyme scheme as an example in figure-of-speech questions.

Practice questions on Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

  1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

    The 'dusty hands' of earlier owners in the fifth stanza suggest that:
    (a) the dead still keep a hold on property (b) the house needs cleaning (c) the poet is afraid (d) the stranger is a former owner

    Hint

    Title-deeds and mortmain.

    Answer

    (a) the dead still keep a hold on property.

  2. Q2 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

    Which stanza compares the ghosts to something silent at a dinner party? What is the comparison? (3 marks)

    Hint

    Pictures on the wall.

    Answer

    The third stanza describes a dinner party at which there are more guests than the hosts invited. The quiet, inoffensive ghosts crowding the brightly lit hall are compared to the pictures on the wall, which are as silent as they are.

  3. Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    What is the stranger's limitation compared with the poet, and what does this show about imagination? (3 marks)

    Hint

    Present against past.

    Answer

    The stranger at the fireside perceives only what is, the present, while the poet sees all that has been as well. This shows that the poet's memory and imagination add a second dimension to what he sees, so imagination lets him perceive the past that others miss.

  4. Q4 · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level

    Identify the figure of speech in 'harmless phantoms' and explain its effect on the reader's expectation. (4 marks)

    Hint

    Ghosts that are not frightening.

    Answer

    'Harmless phantoms' is a paradox, since ghosts in a haunted house would normally be expected to be frightening. The poet places a word of safety beside a word of fear, which surprises the reader and overturns the expectation set by the title. The effect is to show that the real subject of the poem is not terror but memory: the 'ghosts' are the gentle presence of the past, so the reader moves from fear to quiet reflection.

  5. Q5 · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    Do you think the poet's view of the past as a presence in our homes is comforting or disturbing? Give two reasons. (4 marks)

    Hint

    Think of harmless ghosts and dusty hands.

    Answer

    I find it mostly comforting. First, the phantoms are harmless and silent and the poet speaks calmly, so the past is a gentle companion, not a threat. Second, the closing bridge of light suggests that the spirit world is connected to ours in a beautiful way, so the dead are not lost. The image of dusty hands claiming estates is slightly disturbing, since it reminds us that nothing is truly ours, but the poet treats it philosophically. The overall effect is reflective calm.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

  1. 1.Who wrote Haunted Houses?Show answer

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

  2. 2.How many stanzas does the poem have?Show answer

    Ten.

  3. 3.What is the rhyme scheme?Show answer

    abab.

  4. 4.What does equipoise mean?Show answer

    Balance.

  5. 5.What does the stranger perceive?Show answer

    Only what is.

  6. 6.What does the moon throw across the sea?Show answer

    A floating bridge of light.

Harmless Phantoms, the Poet and the Bridge of Light (Haunted Houses): frequently asked questions

Is Haunted Houses a ghost story?

No. Its phantoms are the harmless memory and influence of earlier residents.

What was set from the poem in 2025 and the 2027 specimen?

An MCQ on what the speaker sees at his fireside that the stranger cannot, and a 16-mark extract.

What is the central idea?

The past lives on in the present, and the spirit world is linked to ours by a bridge of light.