The house in "The Deserted House" is a metaphor for a dead body or dead person.
The poem opens with "life and thought have gone away" speaking of a person who has died and no longer has life or thoughts. It continues in Lines 1-3 describing the emptiness of the house, showing the stillness and emptiness of death.
In Line 4 "The house was builded of the earth, And shall fall again to ground." refers to a body being buried, similar to the common funeral phrase "from dust to dust"
Line 5 refers to the person in Heaven- "in a city glorious-- A great and distant city--have bought A mansion incorruptible." Incorruptible in this line means everlasting or unable to decay, showing that the person, (the "mansion") will stay there forever.
The poem ends with "Would they could have stayed with us!" in reference to the person who has died-wishing they had not "moved" to heaven and instead could have stayed alive.
A denouement is the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
And based off the answers...
A. By returning to the original location, Bierce ends the story by contrasting Druse's actions to the beginning of the story.
B. The description of the Federal sergeant crawling to Druse allows Bierce to show how the soldiers must remain hidden.
C. Describing Druse's location and feelings allows Bierce to enhance how monstrous Druse feels at the end of the story.
D. Through the setting, Bierce is able to explain the climax and resolve Druse's feelings about killing his father.
I believe that the correct answer is D.
B is the correct answer! Let me know if you need a deeper explanation! :)
It means fully conscious, or aware of what’s around them.
