A couple’s argument has swollen until it feels larger than the room around them. The speaker describes the walls, books, and furniture crowding in as he and Katinka sit pale and afraid, face to face. She tells him her room can never be his resting place, and it seems they are about to separate for good. He asks for one last walk, and they move down a dark, familiar road in silence. Then the night sky, blazing with stars, changes everything. He urges her to look up, and the two drink in the sight together like thirsty children. The quarrel suddenly shrinks: Katinka asks who those “dolls” were with their “stupid, vague alarms,” and they burst out laughing, falling into each other’s arms. The mood shifts from claustrophobic tension to open, starlit relief, ending in tenderness and reconciliation.
The Quarrel — Summary
Our quarrel seemed a giant thing, It made the room feel mean and small, The books, the lamp, the furniture, The very pictures on the wall--
Crowded upon us as we sat Pale and terrified, face to face. “Why do you stay?” she said, “my room Can never be your resting place.”
“Katinka, ere we part for life, I pray you walk once more with me.” So down the dark, familiar road We paced together, silently.
The sky--it seemed on fire with stars! I said:--“Katinka dear, look up!” Like thirsty children, both of us Drank from that giant loving cup.
“Who were those dolls?” Katinka said. “What were their stupid, vague alarms?” And suddenly we turned and laughed And rushed into each other’s arms.