Home Thoughts From Abroad by Robert Browning Flashcards
Context:
- Browning wrote the poem while in Italy.
- Influenced by his wife, whom he loved dearly (Elizabeth) and inspired by Romanticism (beauty of nature, expression of emotion).
- He wanted to move back to England but could not due to his wife’s ill health (good weather was thought to improve health), and the poem reflects his homesick state of mind.
- The poet yearns to be back in England and enjoy the original tranquility of nature there.
- He was fascinated by Italian art and culture.
Form:
- Lyric poem reflecting the speaker’s powerful, intense emotions
- Both stanzas depict two outpourings of reminiscent emotions
- Perhaps the break in the middle is a homesick daydream/reverie; the pause exemplifies the speaker’s reminiscence and yearning to relive the Spring in England
Meter and Rhyme Scheme:
-Very free, loose meter and adapts to the speaker’s emotions, exemplifying his overflowing, uncontrolled reminiscence; his mental state is unrestrained.
- This unrestrained state contrasts with the fact that he is restricted in that he cannot move back to England.
- Perhaps free meter also reflects the luscious growth of Spring that is invoking evocative images in him
- Rhyme scheme varies between alternating and couplets; they create an effect of harmony, furthering the speaker’s simple, sweet memories of nature.
KEY QUOTE: The speaker’s first, reminiscent comment about Spring in England; the caesura slows down the pace to emphasise the speaker’s homesickness and longing to be back home:
“Oh, to be in England now that April’s there”
KEY QUOTE: The speaker reminisces about the natural beauty in England, further portraying his homesickness, through the tree-related imagery:
“the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf”
KEY QUOTE: Speaker uses auditory imagery to depict the sweet sound of birdsong, exemplifying their love and connection to English nature, and therefore their homesickness; birds are also a symbol of freedom, suggesting speaker’s desire to return to England:
“the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough in England - now!”
- The caesura creates a dramatic pause, building up the emotions of the speaker, which are released at the climactic exclamation.
Note about first stanza - repetition of “England”
The repetition of the country he desires to be in further highlights his homesickness and reminiscence - his entire mind and thoughts are focused solely on England.
KEY QUOTE: Bird imagery combined with polysyndeton to reflect the speaker’s enthusiasm about the English countryside and nature:
“And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!”
KEY QUOTE: Polyptoton featuring the repetition of “blossom”, depicting the season of luscious and thriving growth of Spring in England, exemplifying its natural beauty, echoing the speaker’s reminiscence and homesickness:
“blossomed pear-tree in the hedge […] blossoms and dewdrops”
KEY QUOTE: The speaker is enraptured by the beauty and intelligence of the “wise thrush”, creating a sense of mesmerisation, value, and exhilaration:
“The first fine careless rapture!”
KEY QUOTE: The speaker perhaps implies that England is better than Italy, with the comparative “brighter”; the metaphor of value, “dower”, exemplifies the speaker’s love and connection towards the English countryside, ending the poem on a note of resonantly permeating reminiscence:
“The buttercups, the little children’s dower - far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!”
Use of present tense:
Suggests the speaker is reliving all of his memories, further intensifying his connection to England and his reminiscence.
Summary
This lyric poem radiates a highly reminiscent tone, depicting the speaker’s homesickness - his desire and yearning to be back in England, his home country. Rich nature-related imagery combined with metaphorical phrases further deepen the extent of the speaker’s enthusiasm about the English countryside and therefore his connection to the Spring there.
