Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

HOMECOMING, by             Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography

"Homecoming" by Hayden Carruth is a poignant exploration of return and reflection, capturing the complex emotions that accompany coming back to a familiar place after a long absence. Through vivid imagery and deep contemplation, Carruth meditates on the changes and continuities of life, weaving together themes of nature, loss, and the passage of time.

The poem opens with the abrupt end of a long journey—"A road that had wound us 20,000 miles / stops, with a kind of suddenness, at home." This suddenness serves not just as a physical halt but as a metaphorical pause, compelling the speaker and readers to confront the reality and implications of returning. The transition from wandering to settling, from the expansiveness of travel to the specificity of home, sets the stage for the reflections that follow.

Carruth masterfully employs the summer setting, with its lush and detailed descriptions of the natural world, to anchor the poem in a specific time and place while also evoking a sense of timelessness. The imagery of the butternut tree and the garden's flora is rich and sensual, imbuing the poem with a vibrant, living backdrop against which the themes of change and loss are explored.

The mention of two deaths—one a pine tree, the other an old man named Steve Washer—serves as the emotional core of the poem. The pine, once "shining in snow," now a "russet tree in the dark woods," symbolizes the natural cycle of life, death, and utility. Its transformation from a living entity to firewood reflects a resignation to the inevitability of change and the continuation of life through different forms.

In contrast, the death of Mr. Washer is presented as a more complex and troubling loss. Carruth delves into the character of Mr. Washer, portraying him as a paragon of the "tough hardminded Yankee" ethos, a man of integrity, respect for privacy, and communal spirit. His death is mourned not only as the loss of an individual but as the fading of a way of life, a type of person increasingly rare in the modern world.

The poem's reflection on Mr. Washer's virtues and their perceived disappearance with his passing speaks to a broader lament for the loss of certain values and modes of being in contemporary society. Carruth's contemplation of privacy, communal labor, and the dignity of hard work underscores a yearning for connection and authenticity in a changing world.

"Homecoming" concludes with a return to the quiet, dark, and hot day, a silence that underscores the absence left by Mr. Washer's death. The final image of the silent bell in the garden serves as a powerful symbol of stillness and the cessation of life, echoing the themes of loss and remembrance that permeate the poem.

Through "Homecoming," Carruth offers a nuanced and deeply felt meditation on the nature of return, the inevitability of change, and the enduring impact of those we lose. The poem stands as a testament to the beauty of the natural world, the complexity of human relationships, and the bittersweet reality of coming home to face the changes wrought by time.


Copyright (c) 2024 PoetryExplorer





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net