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“Homecoming” Introduction
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“Homecoming” Summary
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“Homecoming” Themes
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Home and Nostalgia for the Past
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Homecoming”
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Lines 1-4
The present reigned ...
... with the shutters. -
Lines 5-8
Too strange the ...
... that we kept. -
Lines 9-12
Our sapless roots ...
... the water's edge. -
Lines 13-16
There at the ...
... by new skeletons. -
Lines 17-20
That is all ...
... longed for returning.
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“Homecoming” Symbols
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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“Homecoming” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 5: “strange,” “sudden”
- Line 9: “sapless”
- Line 10: “wind-swept seedlings”
- Line 11: “weeds,” “where we”
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Assonance
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”
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Enjambment
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”
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Metaphor
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”
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Line 1: “The present reigned supreme”
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Simile
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,”
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“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
Reigned Supreme-
(Location in poem: Line 1: “The present ,” “reigned supreme”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Homecoming”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Homecoming” Speaker
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“Homecoming” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Homecoming”
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More “Homecoming” Resources
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External Resources
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A Tribute to Peters — A speech written on the occasion of Peters's death in 2009 by Tijjan Salah
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An Interview with Lenrie Peters — Listen to Peters in discussion with The Gambia National Library.
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Peters's Life Story — Check out a more in-depth look at Peters's life.
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History of The Gambia — Learn more about Peters's home country.
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