home thoughts from abroad

Question 1

summary

Answer 1

the poem is about missing englandas he is living abroad in italy
he is feeling melanchony as imagines the beauty of england
he describes england in april and at the end he reveals that he prefers england to italy

Question 2

tone

Answer 2

• tone is admiration and of english nature
• tone is happy even though he feels sad and homesick

Question 3

context

Answer 3

• robert browning wrote the peom when living in italy because he was feeling homesick
• him and his wife were forced to move to italy

Question 4

quotes

Answer 4

• “oh to be in england when april is there”
• “whoever wakes in england”
• “and the white-throat builds and all the swallows!”
• “far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower”

Question 5

“oh to be in england when april is there”

Answer 5

• exclamatory sentence
• april is personified as a visitor making reference to the coming of spring

Question 6

“whoever wakes in england”

Answer 6

• poet uses different perspective to show that this is an imagined experience
• alliteration emphasises that this is a shared experience by those living in england

Question 7

“and the white-throat builds and all the swallows!”

Answer 7

• visual imagery of nature creates a tranquil scene
• repetition of word “and” emphasises his excited tone to see these rare birds

Question 8

“far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!”

Answer 8

• superlative adjective “brighter” shows that he is attempting to compare italy to england
• shows that he prefers england

Question 9

structure

Answer 9

• divided into 2 stanzas to juxtapose the contrast of the 2 months

Question 10

poem

Answer 10

Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops at the bent spray’s edge.
That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Question 11

compare to

Answer 11

autumn