Introduction To
Home Thoughts, From Abroad
- by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
style
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Browning's thought is persistently
optimistic. He believed in
commitment to life. His psychological
portraits in verse, ironic and indirect
in presentation, and his experiments
in diction and rhythm have made him
an important influence on 20thcentury poetry. (1812 - 1889)
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His style is so peculiar that he is the
easiest of all poets to parody and the
most dangerous to imitate. In spite of
his early Shelley worship he is in
certain respects more closely related
to William Wordsworth. Both of them
started by accepting the poet's
mission as quasi-prophetical or
ethical.
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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!
Home Thoughts, From Abroad
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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!
Detailed Explication
1.spring
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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 -
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hedge:树篱
clover:车轴草
dewdrop:露珠
spray:（树或花草的）
小枝（带叶和花的）
2.Recall the delight of youth
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That's the wise thrush;
he sings each song
twice over,
Lest you should think
he never could
recapture
The first fine careless
rapture!
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thrush：鸣禽的一种
rapture: intense
delight 极度的欢喜
3.A final claim
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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!
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hoary: gray or white
with age 因年老而变灰
或变白的
noontide:中午
buttercup: 毛茛
dower: 天赋，天资
gaudy: too bright and
showy esp. in a vulgar
way 花哨的
旅外鄉思
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啊,若身在英伦 如今是四月,
谁在英伦,一天清晨 醒來,会无心忽瞥
低低的枝条,砍下的木堆
細叶萌生,在榆树干周围.
而果树枝条上黃莺鸣吟 在英伦-如今!
四月以后,五月来到时,
蜂雀筑窝,还有无数燕子!
听,围墙內我开花的梨树
旅外鄉思
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听,围墙內我开花的梨树
倾向田野,枝头弯弯,向丁香
飘散着花蕊及露珠之处那是伶俐的鶇,牠一歌两唱
怕你认为他不能再來一遍
先前无心的销魂!
虽然田园多白露,像荒野,
当午潮又再唤醒金凤花,
和那孩童的天资,
风光將迤俪, 比花美的香瓜花更明丽! (施潁州 譯)
Summary
1.short lyric
2.protagonist: homesick traveler/ poet/in Italy
3.spring scene: comparison England/ Italy
4.form: resembles an inverted sonnet
5.two sections:
first
A. first with the pattern: rising /falling----- emoti
B. rhyme scheme: ABABCCDD
second
A. even settle back to think
B. rhyme scheme: AABCBCDDEEFF
Summary
6. Ideas
romantic poem
The domestic bliss and rapturous exchange
with nature that characterize many Romantic
poems
creation of nostalgic feelings
in Britain
outside Britain /abroad
contradicted thoughts
miss home
unwilling to return
Thank you for watching!