They are both notable on account of the strong feeling
for England which they express. No great English poet has said so
little of England as Browning, though his own feelings were always
keenly patriotic. Even in _Pauline_, a poem without a country, there
occur the two lines
... and I cherish most
My love of England--how her name, a word
Of hers in a strange tongue makes my heart beat!
The allusion to the English thrush has given immortality to
_Home-Thoughts, from Abroad_. Many had observed that the thrush
sings a lilt, and immediately repeats it: but Browning was the first
to give a pretty reason for it. The thrush seems to say, "You think
that beautiful melody is an accident? Well, I will show you it is no
fluke, I will sing it correctly right over again." Browning was not
in Italy in April--perhaps he wrote the first stanza on the voyage,
as he wrote _Home-Thoughts, from the Sea_, and added the second
stanza about May and June after he had reached the country of his
quest.
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