Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.
Genuine
Yes. In North of Boston (1914), ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, Warren and Mary’s discussion of home after Mary says Silas has returned to die, said by Warren. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Frost’s own voice.
Checked against Robert Frost, ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, North of Boston (David Nutt, 1914), published text at the Academy of American Poets, in a full-text transcription.
- Work
- North of Boston, 1914
- Where
- ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, Warren and Mary’s discussion of home after Mary says Silas has returned to die
- Source
- Robert Frost, ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, North of Boston (David Nutt, 1914), published text at the Academy of American Poets
- Checked
- In a full-text transcription
Researched by AI. Entry updated 27 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
About this quote
The scene
Silas, their elderly former hired man, has returned to Warren and Mary’s farm in a broken state. Warren resents his unreliability; Mary believes he has come back to die and calls the farm his home. Warren offers this definition, while Mary answers with a different one based on acceptance that need not be earned. When Warren finally goes indoors to see Silas, he finds him dead.
What it means
Warren describes home as a place obliged to receive someone in need. Mary’s reply shifts the emphasis from being bound to take someone in to belonging without having to earn it.
Often misread
Often attributed to Frost as his own reassuring definition of family. It is Warren’s contribution to a dramatic disagreement, not the poem’s uncontested conclusion. The discussion concerns an impoverished worker who has returned to unrelated employers rather than to his prosperous brother.
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Cite it
Robert Frost, North of Boston (1914), ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, Warren and Mary’s discussion of home after Mary says Silas has returned to die. Spoken by Warren. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/home-is-the-place-where-they-have-to-take-you-in/ (27 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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