Summary

In “Yorrick,” the narrator was drawn to Grant Street because of its brick paving and trees. The more he walked the street, the more in love with it he fell. Then he fell in love with the woman who lived in the old house on the corner. He saw her on the balcony and in the window, “watching [him] all the time” (71). Curious to meet her, he tried getting in touch with her. He discovered her last name was Harrison, but could not retrieve her number. When his efforts failed, he discovered the house across the street had two open rooms. He confronted the house’s owner, Mrs. Ellison, who looked “like a walking corpse” (73). She showed him the rooms, explaining that she had trouble keeping tenants because a man who had lived there recently died. Though the narrator would lose money breaking his...