Home-Thoughts, from Abroad The Home Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1

Oh, to be in England (1)

The title tells us that the speaker's thinking of home, and the first line lets us know that that home, for him, is England. That "Oh" to begin adds a kind of emotional intensity to the rest of the poem. We know that this dude is going through some serious homesickness.

Quote #2

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! (3-8)

What's worse for the speaker than missing his home? It's the fact that other folks are back there, enjoying it. In the meantime, all he can do is imagine what they're experiencing in England, right down to the tiny leaves and birds. The level of detail here points to how intensely the speaker wants to be back.

Quote #3

And after April, when May follows, (9)

Here the speaker leaps forward in time. He's not only imagining what his home is like now, but what it will be like in a month. This move tells us just how connected he is to England, right down to the subtle shift in seasons that the space of a month might bring.