“Home” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Home”

“Home” Summary

“Home” Themes

• 

  The Pain of the Refugee Experience

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2
  • Lines 3-11
  • Lines 12-14
  • Lines 15-22
  • Lines 23-25
  • Lines 26-34
  • Lines 35-44
  • Lines 45-47
  • Lines 48-62
  • Lines 62-88
  • Lines 89-95
• 

  Xenophobia, Racism, and the Demonization of Refugees

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2
  • Lines 3-4
  • Lines 10-11
  • Line 12
  • Line 15
  • Lines 23-25
  • Lines 32-34
  • Lines 35-72
  • Lines 76-88
  • Lines 89-91

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Home”

• Lines 1-2

  no one leaves ...
  ... of a shark

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-6

  you only run ...
  ... in their throats

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-11

  the boy you ...
  ... let you stay.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 12-17

  no one leaves ...
  ... your neck

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-22

  and even then ...
  ... be going back.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 23-25

  you have to ...
  ... than the land

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 26-34

  no one burns ...
  ... pitied

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 35-44

  no one chooses ...
  ... like your father

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 45-47

  no one could ...
  ... be tough enough

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 48-58

  the ...
  ... mess up ours

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 59-72

  how do the ...
  ... in pieces.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 73-88

  i want to ...
  ... is more important

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 89-95

  no one leaves ...
  ... safer than here

  

  

  

  

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“Home” Symbols

• 

  The Sea

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 23-25: “you have to understand, / that no one puts their children in a boat / unless the water is safer than the land”
  • Line 76: “and no one would leave home”
  • Line 77: “unless home chased you to the shore”
  • Lines 82-83: “wade through the oceans / drown”
• 

  The Anthem

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 18-22: “and even then you carried the anthem under / your breath / only tearing up your passport in an airport toilet / sobbing as each mouthful of paper / made it clear that you would not be going back.”

“Home” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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  Where anaphora appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “no one leaves home”
  • Line 12: “no one leaves home”
  • Line 24: “no one”
  • Line 26: “no one”
  • Line 29: “no one”
  • Line 32: “no one”
  • Line 33: “no one”
  • Line 35: “no one”
  • Line 45: “no one”
  • Line 46: “no one”
  • Line 47: “no one”
  • Line 63: “than”
  • Line 65: “than”
  • Line 69: “than”
  • Line 70: “than”
  • Line 71: “than”
  • Line 76: “no one would leave home”
  • Line 77: “unless home”
  • Line 78: “unless home”
  • Line 89: “no one leaves home”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 6: “breath bloody”
  • Line 7: “boy”
  • Line 8: “behind”
  • Line 9: “bigger,” “body”
  • Line 13: “fire,” “feet”
  • Line 14: “blood,” “belly”
  • Line 16: “blade burnt”
  • Line 20: “tearing,” “toilet”
  • Line 21: “mouthful”
  • Line 22: “made,” “be,” “back”
  • Line 26: “burns”
  • Line 28: “beneath”
  • Line 30: “miles”
  • Line 31: “means,” “more”
  • Line 33: “be beaten”
  • Line 36: “strip searches”
  • Line 39: “safer”
  • Line 40: “city”
  • Line 44: “look like”
  • Lines 52-53: “asylum seekers / sucking”
  • Lines 55-56: “smell strange / savage”
  • Line 61: “backs”
  • Line 62: “because,” “blow”
  • Line 79: “quicken”
  • Line 80: “clothes”
  • Line 81: “crawl”
  • Line 85: “be”
  • Line 86: “beg”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 8: “kissed,” “dizzy,” “tin”
  • Line 9: “is holding,” “bigger,” “his”
  • Line 11: “home won’t”
  • Line 16: “threats”
  • Line 17: “neck”
  • Line 18: “then,” “anthem”
  • Line 19: “breath”
  • Line 23: “understand”
  • Line 25: “land”
  • Line 47: “one,” “tough enough”
  • Line 49: “go home”
  • Line 64: “words,” “more”
  • Line 65: “fourteen”
  • Line 73: “go home”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “leaves,” “unless”
  • Line 2: “home,” “mouth”
  • Line 6: “breath bloody,” “their throats”
  • Line 7: “boy,” “school”
  • Line 8: “kissed,” “behind”
  • Line 9: “gun bigger,” “ body”
  • Line 12: “leaves,” “unless”
  • Line 13: “fire,” “feet”
  • Line 14: “blood,” “belly”
  • Line 16: “blade burnt threats into”
  • Line 18: “then,” “anthem”
  • Line 19: “breath”
  • Line 20: “tearing up,” “passport,” “airport toilet”
  • Line 21: “mouthful,” “paper”
  • Line 22: “made”
  • Line 23: “understand”
  • Line 24: “no one,” “children in”
  • Line 25: “unless,” “than,” “land”
  • Line 26: “no one burns”
  • Lines 26-27: “palms / under trains”
  • Line 28: “beneath”
  • Line 29: “nights,” “stomach,” “truck”
  • Line 30: “unless the miles travelled”
  • Line 31: “means something more”
  • Line 33: “be beaten”
  • Line 36: “strip searches”
  • Line 39: “safer”
  • Line 40: “city,” “fire”
  • Line 43: “truckload”
  • Line 44: “look like”
  • Line 45: “could take it”
  • Line 46: “could stomach it”
  • Line 47: “skin,” “tough enough”
  • Lines 52-53: “asylum seekers / sucking”
  • Line 53: “country”
  • Lines 55-57: “smell strange / savage / messed”
  • Line 61: “backs”
  • Line 62: “because,” “blow”
  • Line 64: “words,” “more tender”
  • Line 65: “fourteen men between”
  • Line 68: “swallow”
  • Line 69: “rubble”
  • Line 70: “bone”
  • Line 71: “body”
  • Line 74: “home,” “mouth”
  • Line 79: “quicken,” “legs”
  • Line 80: “leave,” “clothes”
  • Line 81: “crawl”
  • Line 85: “be”
  • Line 86: “beg”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “unless / home”
  • Lines 3-4: “border / when”
  • Lines 7-8: “with / who”
  • Lines 8-9: “factory / is”
  • Lines 10-11: “home / when”
  • Lines 15-16: “doing / until”
  • Lines 16-17: “into / your”
  • Lines 18-19: “under / your”
  • Lines 21-22: “paper / made”
  • Lines 24-25: “boat / unless”
  • Lines 26-27: “palms / under”
  • Lines 29-30: “truck / feeding”
  • Lines 30-31: “travelled / means”
  • Lines 35-36: “camps / or”
  • Lines 36-37: “your / body”
  • Lines 39-40: “safer / than”
  • Lines 41-42: “guard / in”
  • Lines 42-43: “night / is”
  • Lines 43-44: “truckload / of”
  • Lines 48-49: “the / go”
  • Lines 49-50: “blacks / refugees”
  • Lines 51-52: “immigrants / asylum”
  • Lines 52-53: “seekers / sucking”
  • Lines 55-56: “strange / savage”
  • Line 57: “messed”
  • Lines 57-58: “want / to”
  • Lines 59-60: “words / the”
  • Lines 60-61: “looks / roll”
  • Lines 62-63: “softer / than”
  • Lines 63-64: “off / or”
  • Lines 64-65: “tender / than”
  • Lines 65-66: “between / your”
  • Lines 66-67: “legs / or”
  • Lines 67-68: “easier / to”
  • Lines 68-69: “swallow / than”
  • Lines 71-72: “body / in”
  • Lines 76-77: “home / unless”
  • Lines 78-79: “you / to”
  • Lines 89-90: “ear / saying”
  • Lines 93-94: “become / but”
  • Lines 94-95: “anywhere / is”

• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

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  Where hyperbole appears in the poem:

  • Line 4: “the whole city running ”
  • Line 9: “ a gun bigger than his body”
  • Lines 43-44: “ a truckload / of men”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “the mouth of a shark”
  • Lines 3-6: “you only run for the border / when you see the whole city running as well / your neighbors running faster than you / breath bloody in their throats”
  • Lines 7-9: “the boy you went to school with / who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory / is holding a gun bigger than his body”
  • Lines 12-14: “home chases you / fire under feet / hot blood in your belly”
  • Lines 16-17: “the blade burnt threats into / your neck”
  • Lines 18-22: “carried the anthem under / your breath / only tearing up your passport in an airport toilet / sobbing as each mouthful of paper / made it clear that you would not be going back.”
  • Lines 26-28: “burns their palms / under trains / beneath carriages”
  • Lines 29-30: “days and nights in the stomach of a truck / feeding on newspaper”
  • Line 32: “no one crawls under fences”
  • Lines 36-37: “strip searches where your / body is left aching”
  • Line 40: “a city of fire”
  • Lines 43-44: “a truckload / of men who look like your father”
  • Line 63: “a limb torn off”
  • Lines 65-66: “fourteen men between / your legs”
  • Lines 69-72: “than rubble / than bone / than your child's body / in pieces.”
  • Lines 74-75: “home is the mouth of a shark / home is the barrel of the gun”
  • Line 77: “home chased you to the shore”
  • Lines 78-82: “home told you / to quicken your legs / leave your clothes behind / crawl through the desert / wade through the oceans”
  • Line 89: “home is a sweaty voice in your ear”

• Irony

  

  

  

  

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  Where irony appears in the poem:

  • Lines 24-25: “that no one puts their children in a boat / unless the water is safer than the land”
  • Lines 35-39: “no one chooses refugee camps / or strip searches where your / body is left aching / or prison, / because ”
  • Lines 39-44: “prison is safer / than a city of fire / and one prison guard / in the night / is better than a truckload / of men who look like your father”
  • Lines 49-58: “go home blacks / refugees / dirty immigrants / asylum seekers / sucking our country dry / niggers with their hands out / they smell strange / savage / messed up their country and now they want / to mess up ours”
  • Lines 62-63: “the blow is softer / than a limb torn off”
  • Lines 64-66: “the words are more tender / than fourteen men between / your legs”
  • Lines 67-72: “the insults are easier / to swallow / than rubble / than bone / than your child's body / in pieces.”

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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  Where metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “home is the mouth of a shark”
  • Line 13: “fire under feet”
  • Line 40: “a city of fire”
  • Line 74: “home is the mouth of a shark”
  • Line 75: “home is the barrel of the gun”
  • Lines 89-92: “home is a sweaty voice in your ear / saying / leave, / run away from me now”

• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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  Where parallelism appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “no one leaves home”
  • Lines 1-2: “unless / home is the mouth of a shark”
  • Line 3: “you only run”
  • Line 4: “when you see”
  • Line 10: “you only”
  • Line 11: “when home”
  • Line 12: “no one leaves home,” “unless home chases you”
  • Line 24: “no one puts their children in a boat”
  • Line 25: “unless the water is safer than the land”
  • Line 26: “no one burns their palms”
  • Line 29: “no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck”
  • Line 32: “no one crawls under fences”
  • Line 33: “no one wants to be beaten”
  • Line 34: “pitied”
  • Line 35: “no one chooses refugee camps”
  • Line 36: “or strip searches”
  • Line 38: “or prison,”
  • Lines 45-47: “no one could take it / no one could stomach it / no one skin would be tough enough”
  • Lines 49-52: “blacks / refugees / dirty immigrants / asylum seekers”
  • Line 59: “the words”
  • Line 60: “the dirty looks”
  • Line 63: “than a limb torn off”
  • Line 64: “or the words”
  • Lines 65-66: “than fourteen men between / your legs”
  • Line 67: “or the insults”
  • Lines 69-72: “than rubble / than bone / than your child's body / in pieces.”
  • Line 74: “home is the mouth of a shark”
  • Line 75: “home is the barrel of the gun”
  • Line 77: “unless home chased you to the shore”
  • Line 78: “unless home told you”
  • Lines 79-82: “quicken your legs / leave your clothes behind / crawl through the desert / wade through the oceans”
  • Lines 83-87: “drown / save / be hungry / beg / forget pride”
  • Line 89: “no one leaves home until home,” “ is a sweaty voice in your ear”

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Lines 10-11: “you only leave home / when home won’t let you stay.”
  • Line 12: “no one leaves home unless home chases you”
  • Lines 76-83: “and no one would leave home / unless home chased you to the shore / unless home told you / to quicken your legs / leave your clothes behind / crawl through the desert / wade through the oceans / drown”
  • Lines 89-95: “no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear / saying / leave, / run away from me now / i dont know what i’ve become / but i know that anywhere / is safer than here”

• Stream of Consciousness

  

  

  

  

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  Where stream of consciousness appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-95

“Home” 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.

• Anthem
• Carriage
• Refugee
• Asylum seekers
• Savage
• Rubble
• Barrel of the gun
• Quicken your legs

• (Location in poem: Line 18: “and even then you carried the anthem under”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Home”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Home” Speaker

“Home” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Home”

More “Home” Resources

• External Resources

  • Warsan Shire's Biography — Read about the poet's life and work.

  • The Writing Life of Warsan Shire — An in-depth profile of poet Warsan Shire in The New Yorker magazine.

  • Poetry on the Refugee Crisis — Five young poets, including Warsan Shire, reflect on the refugee experience.

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a powerful, illustrated performance of the poem read by the poet herself.

  • The Refugee Crisis — Information on the global refugee crisis, provided by the International Rescue Committee.