House and Land summary

Stanza One

A historian is visiting a farm, presumably because it is an old farm from the colonial period. He speaks to
the ‘cowman’ who says he has worked for Miss Wilson since her husband died.

Stanza Two

This stanza describes a dog that lives on the farm. The dog is chained up and spends its days ‘moping’
between the privy (toilet) and fowl house (chicken coop.) He is trapped there, going back and forth
between his ‘two worlds.’

Stanza Three

This stanza describes Miss Wilson in her home. The pictures that surround her represent the British
heritage – the world her family has come from. She suggests her uncle was a baronet – one of the highest
ranks in England’s aristocracy, yet Miss Wilson is a colonial, which was considered to be one of the lowest
ranks. These are her true pictures of ‘home’ and show that even though she has lived in NZ for 80 odd
years, she still does not see it as home.

Stanza Four

In this stanza Miss Wilson comments on how the “people in the colonies” (Maori) don’t understand the
concept of land ownership. (Before the Treaty/colonisation people didn’t individually “own” their own
land, so it was a foreign concept to them.) She implies they are less intelligent with her words. It also
shows how much land the settlers received on their arrival – land that was often simply ‘taken’.

Stanza Five

Returns to the milk shed, historian is still talking to the cowman. He says he is leaving next winter as it is
too quiet (not much of a life for him.)

Stanza Six

The historian analyses the “evidence” of the place and his conclusion is that the people

(The settlers) still long for the ‘home’ they have left.

Stanza Seven

The cowman and the rabbiter (the only one who is at “home”), are done with their days work, going off for
a drink. The image of the “nor’west” afternoon shows the characters are clearly not in England because
the wind in England is generally North-Easters or South-Westers, depending on the time of year.  The
symbolism of the confined dog is reinforced as it now looks “lost and lame,” again a fair description of the
old woman.  It shows the same reluctance towards its home, a barrel, that Miss Wilson does to hers.  The
great gloom referred to on line 38 is an intensification of the depressed moody imagery established in the
second stanza, which creates the atmosphere that these settlers, who feel like ‘exiles’, experience. The last
line – “with never a soul at home” – emphasises the sense of displacement they experience.