England, Albion, Old Blighty—call it what you want, but the speaker of "Home-Thoughts, from Abroad" calls it home. It's a place he's eager to get back to, but he can't. Instead, he's stuck shuffling around a bunch of gaudy melon flowers, imagining just how sweet a scene he's left behind. Travel will do that to you, after all. All the things you used to complain about when you were at home seem to fade away. In their place, you have an idyllic and beautified version of home, one filled with happy birds and lovely blossoms. In our displaced speaker's mind, England is where it's at—but it seems like that's mainly because it's where he's not.
Questions About The Home
- How realistic is this speaker's description of his home?
- What aspects of his home in England does the speaker leave out of this poem? Why do you think he did so?
- What aspects of your home would you include if you had to write a poem about it? How would it compare to this poem?
Chew on This
This poem is proof that, if you want to appreciate your home, you have to go far, far away from it.
The version of home described in this poem is really just an act of the speaker's imagination. It doesn't exist in real life.