{"id":17350,"date":"2012-11-27T06:30:32","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T17:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=17350"},"modified":"2012-11-26T21:25:12","modified_gmt":"2012-11-26T08:25:12","slug":"home-thoughts-from-abroad-by-robert-browning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2012\/11\/27\/home-thoughts-from-abroad-by-robert-browning\/","title":{"rendered":"“Home Thoughts, From Abroad” by Robert Browning"},"content":{"rendered":"

OH, to be in England
\nNow that April \u2019s there
\nAnd whoever wakes in England
\nSees, some morning, unaware,
\nThat the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
\nRound the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
\nWhile the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
\nIn England\u2014now!<\/p>\n

And after April, when May follows,
\nAnd the white-throat builds, and all the swallows \u2013
\nHark! where my blossom\u2019d pear-tree in the hedge
\nLeans to the field and scatters on the clover
\nBlossoms and dewdrops \u2013 at the bent spray\u2019s edge \u2013
\nThat \u2019s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over
\nLest you should think he never could re-capture
\nThe first fine careless rapture!
\nAnd though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
\nAll will be gay when noontide wakes anew
\nThe buttercups, the little children\u2019s dower,
\n\u2013 Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!<\/p>\n

Robert Browning, 1812 \u2013 1889<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

About the Poem:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess <\/a>was one of the first poems I posted as a Tuesday Poem—on July 6, 2010 in fact—so it’s been feeling about time for another. So why Home Thoughts, From Abroad<\/em>—firstly, just because I like it. (We likes it we does, yes-s, preciouss-s-s… ;-)) It also fits with two themes I’ve been running on the blog lately: the first is about celebrating spring, which I’ve been doing chiefly via photos from my garden (wisteria<\/a>, rhododendron<\/a>, globe artichokes<\/a>, and poppies<\/a>.) The second is poems either yearning for home or returnng home: Rupert Brooke’s The Old Vicaridge, Grantchester<\/em><\/a> and Johanna Aitchison’s is anybody in there?<\/em><\/a> Browning’s Home Thoughts<\/em> speaks to that same yearning\/nostalgia for home and also celebrates spring\/early summer, as does Brooke’s poem—in fact there is quite an echo between the two, which was doubtless deliberate on Brooke’s part. At any rate, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I always do—especially now after a holiday enjoying spring sunshine, although it was “blossomed [hawthorne] in the hedge” rather than pear blossom, and wild thyme and Californian poppies down Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes way, rather than clover and buttercups. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub\u2014and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world\u2014either click here<\/a> or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OH, to be in England Now that April \u2019s 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\u2014now! And after April, when May follows, And the white-throat builds, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17350"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17360,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17350\/revisions\/17360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}