Home Thoughts from Abroad
"Home Thoughts, from Abroad" is a poem by Robert Browning. It was written in 1845 while Browning was on a visit to northern Italy, and was first published in his Dramatic Romances and Lyrics.[1] It is considered an exemplary work of Romantic literature for its evocation of a sense of longing and sentimental references to natural beauty.
| by Robert Browning | |
 Poet Robert Browning | |
| First published in | 1845 |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | French, |
| Genre(s) | Romantic literature |
| Form | Sonnet |
| Lines | 19 |
| Preceded by | "The Lost Mistress" |
| Followed by | "Home-Thoughts, from the Sea" |
| Read online | "[[s:Home Thoughts from Abroad|]]" at Wikisource |
| Metre | Irregular |
Text
Home Thoughts From Abroad is written as a first person, in which the speaker expresses feelings of homesickness through sentimental references to the English countryside.[2] The poem's opening lines are renowned for their evocation of patriotic nostalgia:[3]
Oh, to be in England Now that April’s there
Browning makes sentimental references to the flora of an English springtime, including brushwood, elm trees and pear tree blossom and to the sound of birdsong from chaffinches, whitethroats, swallows and thrushes. The speaker in the poem concludes by stating that the blooming English buttercups will be brighter than the "gaudy melon-flower" seen growing in Italy.[2]
The poem is in two stanzas; the first has an irregular metre consisting of alternating trimeter, tetrameter and pentameter lines, and a final trimeter line, with an ABABCCDD rhyming scheme. The longer second stanza consists almost entirely of pentameter lines except for one tetrameter line, and the rhyme is an AABCBCDDEEFF scheme.[4]
Legacy
Browning's poem inspired singer-songwriter Clifford T Ward in his sentimental 1973 song "Home Thoughts from Abroad", which also makes reference to other romantic poets John Keats and William Wordsworth.[5]
In 1995, Browning's "Home Thoughts from Abroad" was voted 46th in a BBC poll to find the United Kingdom's favourite poems.[6]
References
- Robert Browning's "Home-Thoughts, from Abroad": "Oh to be in England:" Seminar Paper, GRIN Verlag 2008 ISBN 978-3-640-33427-8
- "Analysis of Home Thoughts From Abroad". Poem Analysis. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- "10 of the Best and Most Famous Opening Lines in English Poetry". Interesting Literature. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- SparkNotes: Robert Browning's Poetry: "Home-Thoughts, From Abroad". Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- Cartwright, Dave (2003). Bittersweet : the Clifford T. Ward story. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 9781901447187.
- Griff Rhys Jones, The Nation's Favourite Poems, BBC Worldwide Ltd 1996 ISBN 978-0-563-38782-4 (p.71)
