The Gambian writer and surgeon Lenrie Peters published "Homecoming" (under a different title) in his second collection, Satellites (1967), alongside other poems that similarly touch on questions of identity, tradition, home, and community. The poem explores the disillusionment and disappointment of returning home after a long period away only to find things changed beyond recognition and seemingly lacking the grounding and richness of the past. The poem was likely inspired by Peters's own experiences returning to Africa after having studied and worked in England.

• Read the full text of “Homecoming”

• “Homecoming” Summary

• “Homecoming” Themes

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    Home and Nostalgia for the Past

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Homecoming”

  • Lines 1-4

    The present reigned ...
    ... with the shutters.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    Too strange the ...
    ... that we kept.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Our sapless roots ...
    ... the water's edge.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    There at the ...
    ... by new skeletons.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    That is all ...
    ... longed for returning.

    

    

    

    

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• “Homecoming” Symbols

  • 

    The Luxuriant Weeds

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-12: “Luxuriant weeds have grown where we led / The Virgins to the water's edge.”
  • 

    Roots and Seedlings

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “Our sapless roots have fed / The wind-swept seedlings of another age.”
  • 

    The Skeletons and the House

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 15-16: “the house without a shadow / Lived in by new skeletons.”

• “Homecoming” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “strange,” “sudden”
    • Line 9: “sapless”
    • Line 10: “wind-swept seedlings”
    • Line 11: “weeds,” “where we”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “strange,” “change”
    • Line 7: “arranged”
    • Line 8: “memories,” “kept”
    • Line 11: “led”
    • Line 12: “edge”
    • Line 13: “town”
    • Line 14: “ground”
    • Line 15: “house without”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “supreme / Like”
    • Lines 2-3: “gutters / Over”
    • Lines 5-6: “change / Of”
    • Lines 7-8: “arranged / The”
    • Lines 9-10: “fed / The”
    • Lines 11-12: “led / The”
    • Lines 13-14: “town / Just”
    • Lines 14-15: “ground / Stands”
    • Lines 15-16: “shadow / Lived”
    • Lines 17-18: “left / To”
    • Lines 18-19: “home-coming / After”
    • Lines 19-20: “world / And”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “The present reigned supreme”
    • Line 6: “the times we buried”
    • Lines 9-10: “Our sapless roots have fed / The wind-swept seedlings of another age.”
    • Lines 15-16: “the house without a shadow / Lived in by new skeletons”
    • Line 19: “paced the world”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “The present reigned supreme”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “The present reigned supreme / Like the shallow floods over the gutters / Over the raw paths where we had been,”

• “Homecoming” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Reigned Supreme
  • Gutters
  • Seedlings
  • Sapless roots
  • Luxuriant
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “The present ,” “reigned supreme”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Homecoming”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Homecoming” Speaker

• “Homecoming” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Homecoming”

• More “Homecoming” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Tribute to Peters — A speech written on the occasion of Peters's death in 2009 by Tijjan Salah

    • An Interview with Lenrie Peters — Listen to Peters in discussion with The Gambia National Library.

    • Peters's Life Story — Check out a more in-depth look at Peters's life. 

    • History of The Gambia — Learn more about Peters's home country.

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