Edward Hopper and House by the Railroad

Rhiannon Austgen


After reading Hopper's poem, I was overcome with emotion. At first I felt sorry for the house, I thought about how I would dread the feeling of being alone and abandoned, then as I studied the painting I began to reminisce. The painting reminded me of a time I felt alone and abandoned. What stood out most for me was the emptiness around the house as if there was no one that wanted to be around this poor old house. Everything from the architecture to the color of the paneled walls made this house bring despair to my heart. Like the painting, the poem also gives many descriptive details of despair. For example how the poet used the words desolate and desperate so many times gives you such a descriptive image of how lonely and abandoned the house must feel.