THE DOLL HOUSE

by A.E. Stallings

Presented by:
Rio Amor B. Prima
Author’s Biography

Alicia Elsbeth Stallings

 Born on July 2, 1968, and grew up in Decatur,
Georgia.
 Parents: William M. Stallings and Alice
Anderson Stallings
 She studied classics at the University of
Georgia (1990) and Oxford University (1992). 
 Her works include the poetry
collection Archaic Smile (1999), poems and
essays in such publications as Poetry,
the Atlantic Monthly, the Hudson Review, and
the Yale Review, and Hapax (2006).

Hapax is ancient Greek for once, once

only, and once and for all; pervades this
second book of poems which includes
“Aftershocks”, “Implements from the Grave
of the Poet”, “Lovejoy Street”, and “The Doll
House.”
THE DOLL HOUSE BY A.E. STALLINGS
There in the attic of forgotten shapes
(Old coats in plastic, hat boxes, fur capes
Amongst the smells of mothballs and cigars),
I saw the doll house of our early years
With which my mother and my aunt had played
And later where my sister and I made
The towering grown-up hours to smile and pass:
The little bed, the tin-foil looking glass,
Bookcases stamped in ink upon the walls,
Mismatched chairs where sat the jointed dolls,
The clock whose face, no longer than a dime,
Had, for all these years, kept the same time.
I remembered how we set the resin food
Atop a table of stained balsa wood
The shiny turkey hollow to the tap,
The cherry pie baked in a bottle cap.
Now it is time to go to sleep, we spoke,
Parroting the talk of older folk,
And laid the dolls out fully-clothed in bed
After their teeth were brushed, and prayers were
said,
And flipped the switch on the low-wattage sun.
But in the night we’d have something break in,
Kidnap the baby or purloin the pie –
A tiger, maybe, or a passer by –
Just to make something happen, to
move the story.
The dolls awoke, alarmed, took
inventory.
If we made something happen everyday,
Or night, it was the game we knew to
play,

Not realizing then how lives accrue,

With interest, the smallest things we do.
DENOTATIVE MEANING OF THE POEM
First Stanza: The speaker describes the setting of an attic filled
with forgotten old items.

Second Stanza: The speaker presents the doll house,

illustrating its appearance and history of its use.

Third Stanza: It is about reminiscing the activities the persona

played while playing the doll house.

Fourth Stanza: The speaker then reflects how the small things
they did as children, like playing the doll house, shape their
lives in ways they did not realize in time.
 CONNOTATIVE MEANING OF THE POEM

“The Doll House” is a nostalgic poem that vividly recalls

the childhood memories of the speaker and the doll house
they used to play with. To sum-up, the poem hails the joy of
reminiscing about childhood memories, reflecting their
importance now that we are older.
FIGURES OF SPEECH/LITERARY DEVICES/SYMBOLS USED IN THE POEM

1. Imagery: “Little-beds”, “tin-foil looking glass”, “bookcases stamped in ink,”

“mismatched chairs,” and “shiny turkey hollow.”

2. Metaphor: “Forgotten shapes”, a metaphor for memories that have been left behind.

3. Personification: The dolls are personified as they “awoke, alarmed, took inventory.”

4. Onomatopoeia: Such as “tap” in the “shiny turkey hollow to the tap.”

5. Rhyme: “Shapes/capes,” “years/smears,” “dime/time,” “pass/glass,” and “bed/said.”

6. Symbolisms: The doll house symbolizes childhood and innocence. While the “low-
wattage sun” symbolizes the passing of time.
 Tone: MOOD:
Nostalgic CONTEMPLATIVE

STYLE OF THE AUTHOR

 Use of vivid and descriptive language.
 Use of simple, straightforward, and accessible vocabulary.
 Also features a nostalgic tone as the speaker reflects about her
childhood memories.

THEMES:

“Childhood is but a moment and memories can create nostalgic

feelings.”
“Enjoy every moment in life and make the most of it.”
 References
A. E. Stallings. (n.d.-b). MacArthur Foundation.
https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2011/a-e-stallings
A.E. Stallings: ‘I’m Optimistic About Poetry, but That’s Maybe the Only Thing.’ (2019, July 31).
Literary  Hub.
https://lithub.com/a-e-stallings-im-optimistic-about-poetry-but-thats-maybe-the-only-thing/
MasterClass. (2021, September 9). What Is Denotation? Definition of Denotation, With Examples
From Literature - 2023 - MasterClass.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-denotation
Poetry Foundation. (n.d.). A.E. Stallings | Poetry Foundation.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ae-stallings
Poetry Foundation. (2018, April 17). The Doll House by A.E. Stallings. Poetry
Magazine.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse
The Best Twenty-First-Century Poems Everyone Should Read. (2020, October 14). Interesting
Literature.
https://interestingliterature.com/2020/02/twenty-first-century-poems-contemporary/
Thank you for listening!