Felecia Hemans

I found "The Homes of England" intriguing. I have never been out of the United States and I have always wanted to visit various places like Italy, England, France, Australia, Spain, Thailand, and China. I like the way Hemans took one aspect of England and magnified it. The homes are a part of England that stood out to her and a part that she appreciated as well. In the first line of each stanza she describes the homes as "stately, merry, blessed, Cottage, and free." These words alone make you feel much like you are at home. The word stately reminds me of a regal and well-kept home. The words merry and blessed bring that comfort and joy that you feel when the whole family has a gathering at someone's home and everyone is talking and laughing. It makes you feel like you are blessed with love and good company. She describes each type of home and their surroundings. My two favorite homes in the poem were the stately and the merry.

She describes the stately homes:
"How beautiful they stand!.....tall ancestral trees, o'er all the pleasant land. The deer across the greensward bound.....swan glides past them" (p. 412).
I would love to live in a stately home of England. They are gorgeous structures with such soothing surroundings. Can you imagine having the most beautiful trees around your home that provide the perfect shade along with a lake in the back in which swans live? I can. I have always admired those who live close by lakes because they provide a certain calmness. You can fish or just bring a blanket and have a picnic.

The merry homes of England are "Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love......woman's voice flows forth in song, or childhood's tale is told....some glorious page of old" (p. 412).
The merry homes sound like they are full of family and full of love. The woman that Hemans mentions reminds me of someone's mother or possibly grandmother. Some people have extended family in their homes. Parents and grandparents enjoy telling young ones in the family about things that happened in their childhood. It feels good to reminise sometimes.

Hemans incorporated aspects of the homes such as their landscape as well as the things that occur within a home. That is what made this a enjoyable reading.