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| Robert Browning 1812-1889 |
This morning I woke up thinking, "Oh, to be in England/ Now that April's there". And I further thought, who wrote those lines? Uncle Google led me to "Home Thoughts from Abroad" by Robert Browning. The poem was written in 1845 when Browning and his wife-to-be, Elizabeth Barrett, were apparently already living in Florence, Italy.
Home Thoughts from Abroad
Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And 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!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
It is easy to sense Browning's nostalgia in this poem. He is missing his homeland - even though it is perhaps worth pointing out that he was born and raised a Londoner so the rural idyll to which he refers would have been some distance from his daily experience of the world during the first thirty three years of his life.
I think that the "melon-flower" of the last line references Nature in Italy. It is so different from what he left back home and far less stimulating.
Ultimately, I must confess that I do not like this poem very much. I think that some of the rhymes are as forced as the images of springtime that Browning has conjured up. For me the overall effect jars somehow and I am left thinking - well if you missed England so much, why didn't you simply pack up and leave Italy behind? I think it lacks the emotional authenticity that I am habitually drawn to in good poetry.
I find the ending especially problematic. The poem just judders to a halt without proper reflection on the differences between springtime in England and springtime in Italy. No, I am sorry Robert, though it starts well, I give this poem 6/10. Must try harder. What do you think?
nice poem
ReplyDeleteI prefer to say that it is "interesting".
DeleteDunno about Oh, to be in England.......It's chucking it down here this morning!!
ReplyDeleteSunny in Yorkshire this morning... but then this is God's own country.
DeleteFirst of all, I am quite gobsmacked that you taught English for thirty years and had to look up the source of those lines. Second, I am not a big fan of Browning but I prefer his shorter poems such as "Song From Pippa Passes" to, say, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came"....I do agree with you, "Home Thoughts From Abroad" starts well but ends without reaching any sort of satisfying conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear your comments on Arthur Hugh Clough's "Say Not The Struggle Naught Availeth" next....
Not really. I'm "pulling your leg" as we say in the colonies.
Guilty your honour! I never had to "teach" any Browning in all those years and I never had to study any Browning when I was at university. He kind of slipped through the net. I guess you Roberts have to stick together. Is there a club?
DeleteThe whole premise strains credulity, comparing Florence to the English countryside, where, as Frances says above, it's more likely chucking down buckets.
ReplyDeleteAn English spring is certainly a wondrous sight to behold when the sun is shining and perhaps an Italian spring is less remarkable as there is less obvious seasonal range.
DeleteI think he was just homesick.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, it was money derived from slavery in Jamaica that allowed Browning and his wife to live a life of leisure in Italy.
DeleteHa! You are SUCH a teacher. I like it, personally, and I'm glad it's not too rhythmic and sing-song. It's rhymed but subtly so in places, and I can certainly understand missing a place while being unable to return. (I know nothing of his life and how obligated he may have been to stay in Italy, but maybe he HAD to...?)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth was a sickly woman and probably believed that living in a warmer climate would benefit her health. I think that is the main reason they stayed in Italy. And don't forget that your homework is due in on Friday Steven!
DeleteIt's "interesting" lol
ReplyDeleteNo, actually, here are my real thoughts. I found the rhyming to be awkward the first time through, but on second and third read, my reaction was more like Steve's - I like that it's not over-structured. I especially like, and will remember, the bit about the thrush singing his song twice and why he does so.
Perhaps this is a good time to admit that, contrary to what you might think, given that I do the Poetry Monday challenge, I'm not a rabid fan of poetry in general. It keeps my brain ticking, though, to write something every week, it keeps me posting on a regular schedule, and I'd rather write poetry than a piece of fiction. I find the exposure I get to poetry through the challenge - both writing and reading others' contributions - is just the right amount for me.
I know, I know. The only comment you're going to make is something or other to do with "rabid", right?
That thought never crossed my mind you young whippersnapper!
DeleteGiven you moniker, when I saw the title, I was expecting a recipe for gravy browning, but pleasantly surprised to see it was about one of our great bards. I love the poem and indeed it shows how homesick he is. He might not have been too far from countryside in London. In those days most of what is now south London was just fields, apart from a strip of built-up area just along the south banks of the Thames. As Frances said, it's grey and grim here today, so maybe Italy would be a better option right now.
ReplyDelete*your moniker
DeleteYou could be right Professor ADDY but I suspect that Browning was quite pretentious.
DeleteIt has a very catchy first line that catches our attention. The first line is well known.
ReplyDeleteYes it is. "Oh to be in Red Deer/Now that spring is here" sounds better.
DeleteI like rhyming poetry but this one throws me a bit because the rhyme pattern is just slightly different in the two stanzas. That is okay, but I always seem to notice when it happens. Overall I do like Browning's poetry. My favorite rhyming poet has to be Edgar Allen Poe. His poems are so musical and I so love The Raven.
ReplyDeleteBrowning was only thirty three when he created this poem and I think that may have contributed to its slight awkwardness.
DeleteI love it ...but he should have stopped at one stanza.
ReplyDeleteHis poem should have stopped in Italy.
DeleteIt's a bit muddled...perhaps - obviously - his mind was in a muddle at the time...and his emotional situation comes out. Something that happens to most of us when we're writing prose or poetry. I'm sure Browning wasn't exempt.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the title of your post...my immediate thoughts were you were either out sun-baking, or you were roasting a piece of beef while preparing the batter for your Yorkshire Pudding! :)
Regarding your last paragraph, perhaps Browning would have been better off writing about browning!
DeleteOh, to eat some roast beef
Now that Sunday's here...
It's a poem. And you don't like it. So I skimmed.
ReplyDeleteMeh
Yes but you might have liked it Kylie!
DeleteWhenever I think of Browning my mind goes to Elizabeth Barrett and her poem to her spaniel, Flush, and think I will never write such a poem to my wicked Lucy, although she demands to be at my side always.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be a rock band called Juicy Lucy. Is that where you got the idea for your hound's name?
DeleteI'm more an 'April is the cruelest month' - type of person.
ReplyDelete