#ClassicPoetry – #RobertBrowning – #OhToBeInEngland

/ Marcia Meara

Since I shared a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning last time, I thought it only fair to feature her husband this time around. With that in mind, here is one of Robert Browning’s most often quoted poems. Hope you enjoy it!

Home Thoughts From Abroad
Oh to Be in England
Robert Browning ( 1812 – 1889)

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!

Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax.

His early long poems Pauline (1833) and Paracelsus (1835) were acclaimed, but his reputation dwindled for a time – his 1840 poem Sordello was seen as wilfully obscure – and took over a decade to recover, by which time he had moved from Shelleyan forms to a more personal style. In 1846 he married fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett and moved to Italy. By her death in 1861 he had published the collection Men and Women (1855). His Dramatis Personae (1864) and book-length epic poem The Ring and the Book (1868–1869) made him a leading poet. By his death in 1889 he was seen as a sage and philosopher-poet who had fed into Victorian social and political discourse. Societies for studying his work survived in Britain and the US into the 20th century.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Elizabeth’s other half,
a leading poet in his own right, though I lean a bit towards
the sonnets of his wife, myself, being
a diehard romantic and all.

44 thoughts on “#ClassicPoetry – #RobertBrowning – #OhToBeInEngland”

    • Oooh, that’s an interesting thought, Beth! They must have had some wonderfully descriptive discussions over the years. Now I’ll be thinking about that every time I read a poem by one or the other of them. 😀

      Thanks so much for stopping by this morning, and here’s to a great week ahead! 😀 ❤

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  5. It’s so famous it went out of favour and people would quote the first couple of lines and that would be it. When you savour the words and images you can see how closely he’s observed his surroundings – and anyone living here will tell you that those descriptions are just as perfect and relevant today in any rural setting here. I can understand his homesickness, and that ending with the gaudy melon where he currently lives shows how much he misses his homeland. I’m really enjoying this series, Marcia, and looking forward to the next treat! ❤ ❤ ❤

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    • When you think about it, not many folks can quote more than the first line or two of any given poem, before they’d have to refer to a book or the like. So in that way, having opening lines that are still quoted to this day is a wonderful thing. But I agree, savoring the words and images of the entire poem is the real treat, and I believe you about them still being perfect and relevant to this day. I wish I’d made it to England to see for myself, but that’s not likely to happen at this point, so I’m doubly glad to have this poem to paint the picture for me.

      While I lean more to the romance of Elizabeth’s works, I appreciate Robert’s too, and this poem, especially! (Notice I’m on a first-name basis with the Brownings, now! 😂)

      Thanks so much for stopping by today, Trish, and sharing your thoughts on this one. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, my friend! 😀 ❤

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    • Me, too, Jeanne. I’m terribly homesick for the place, and I’ve never even BEEN there! 😂

      Glad you enjoyed today’s selection, and thank you so much for stopping by to let me know. Hope you have a super week ahead!! 😀 ❤

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    • Glad you enjoyed it, Jan. I’ve had a lot of fun with this series and hope to keep it going for a while yet. Thanks for stopping by today, and here’s to a great rest of your week! 😀 ❤

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    • Happy to introduce you to a new poem, Mae. This is probably my favorite of Browning’s works, and the first two lines must surely be his most quoted lines, though I doubt many remember the rest of the verse. So glad you are enjoying this series. (It’s a trip down Memory Lane for me, as I read most of these decades ago in high school or even earlier.

      Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a moment to let me know you’re enjoying them, and hope the rest of your week is a great one! 😀 ❤

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    • Thank you so much, Rae! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and hope you’ll feel the same way about future posts in this series.

      Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a moment to share your thoughts, and here’s to a great rest of the week! 😀 ❤

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  17. It’s really amazing that two such people were a married couple, isn’t it? I can only imagine the kinds of things they must have talked about, or shared with each other. So glad you enjoyed the poem, Darlene, and I thank you for stopping by to let me know. (I suspect Elizabeth will be back to visit us from time to time, and possibly even Robert, too, if I find something I like well enough.)

    Hope your week has been going great and continues to do so! 😀 ❤

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