What is home? Is it a physical place? Is it other people? Is it love? Is it poetry?
In this poem, home is all of these things. The speaker uses imagery associated with the home in order to suggest how his love and his poetry can provide a home for the beloved. Ultimately, we all need a home and we can't be happy without one. This, at least, is what the speaker of "I Am Offering This Poem" suggests.
Questions About The Home
- How can poetry (and literature in general) provide a "home" for us?
- What's the relationship between love and home in this poem?
- Why is it important to "go on living inside," as the speaker says? How can we construct homes within ourselves, or within ideas?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
The poem shows us that home is not a place, it's a state of mind.
Actually, it's a state of language. The poem is proof that we can construct a home through words and literature.