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Stanza 1:
This stanza is a flashback to a time before the events outlined in the poem. It speaks of a house hidden in the trees that must be important to the speaker because of the tone he/she uses when describing it. It also speaks of the speakers fear of disasters like fires and break-ins that he believes are irrational at the time. In the closing parts of this stanza he states how no matter what his/her fears may be, the house he holds so dear is always locked tight.
Stanza 2:
In this stanza, the speaker builds confidence in his assertion that his house will remain unharmed. It also brings in the prospect of a community around their house and maybe a set of people who watched their relationship diminish. There is also a more divine reference suggesting either a faith in a certain.
Stanza 3:
This stanza brings regret into the picture and it speaks of how the speaker believes he/she should have been more thoughtful and should have known that the relationship would fall apart. The speaker also shows that he/she and the significant other had been through a lot and that they could escape the test of time.
Stanza 4:
This stanza really shows how the world around them is changing and how their friends are changing and being driven to do things they would normally not do. It also introduces an idea that love can feed on hate and become stronger but in the case of their relationship it did not quite work that way and this surprised them as stated in the last line.
Stanza 5:
This last stanza brings light to the time the reader is speaking from and also brings light to the house and to the state of the relics of their past life together. It makes it obvious that the speaker misses his/her old life and often visits to reminisce. He also takes ownership for his actions and how he contributed to the breakdown of the relationship.

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The speaker in this poem is speaking from a first person perspective. I know this because he/she is using words like 'we' and 'you' implying that it is spoken from a first person perspective. The speaker feels reminiscent and almost sad about his/her past with his/her significant other. This subject for the speaker is obviously very sad for the speaker to talk about because the speaker speaks of friends betrayal and the rotting away of a house which suggests that he/she misses the past.

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Imagery:  Imagery: The use of vivid language to generate ideas and/or evoke mental images, not only of the visual sense but of sensation and emotion as well. While most commonly used in reference to figurative language, imagery can apply to any component of a poem that evokes sensory experience and emotional response, and also applies to the concrete things so brought to mind.

Example in Poem:
As we drove back, crossing the hill,
The house still
Hidden in the trees, I always thought—

Effect on Reader:
I believe this allows the reader to really imagine this special place that the speaker is talking about.

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Contrast:  Closely arranged things with strikingly different characteristics.

Example In Poem:
hate all we both loved best

Effect on Reader:
I believe this line is the climax where the speaker finally realizes his relationship is failing and how he was taken by suprise.

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Repetition: The purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect. Sometimes, especially with longer phrases that contain a different keyword each time, this is called parallelism. It has been a central part of poetry in many cultures. Many of the Psalms use this device as one of their unifying elements.

Example in Poem:
Some things passed in the settlement;
Some things slipped away.

Effect on Reader:
The effect this has on the reader is the perceived change in his life and how it can be a repetitive process and how things have changed since his relationship failed.

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This poem is about the authors failed relationship with a woman and how his house slowly rotted away over time and how his life has been changed.

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Dour - relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance

The non-caring and trusting nature of the time this poem was written (1986) is shown in this poem.

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Born: 1926
Died: 2009
Former Residence: Pennsylvania
Education: University of Iowa
Fun Fact: Focused on personal and intimate poems

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As we drove back, crossing the hill,
The house still
Hidden in the trees, I always thought—
A fool’s fear—that it might have caught
Fire, someone could have broken in.
As if things must have been
Too good here. Still, we always found
It locked tight, safe and sound.

I mentioned that, once, as a joke;
No doubt we spoke
Of the absurdity
To fear some dour god’s jealousy
Of our good fortune. From the farm
Next door, our neighbors saw no harm
Came to the things we cared for here.
What did we have to fear?

Maybe I should have thought: all
Such things rot, fall—
Barns, houses, furniture.
We two are stronger than we were
Apart; we’ve grown
Together. Everything we own
Can burn; we know what counts—some such
Idea. We said as much.

We’d watched friends driven to betray;
Felt that love drained away
Some self they need.
We’d said love, like a growth, can feed
On hate we turn in and disguise;
We warned ourselves. That you might despise
Me—hate all we both loved best—
None of us ever guessed.

The house still stands, locked, as it stood
Untouched a good
Two years after you went.
Some things passed in the settlement;
Some things slipped away. Enough’s left
That I come back sometimes. The theft
And vandalism were our own.
Maybe we should have known.