Alexander
Pushkin's "I Have Visited Again" uses sentimental and warm images to support his theme
of "coming home." The poem begins with the following
lines:
€¦I have visited again
That
corner of the earth where I spent two
Unnoticed, exiled years.
The word "exiled" may be misleadingusually negative, it
does not have that effect here since it is afor time spent with his Nurse (perhaps to nurse her
in her old age) but his "exile" was unnoticedhe
greatly enjoyed this place for two years.
Instead of
writing with sadness (inferred by "exile"), the speaker describes
memories that he holds dear. His "old nurse" is gonewe assume she is dead. We can
infer that she cared for him even though it was hard:
No
more behind the wall
Do I hear her heavy footsteps as she moved
Slowly, painstakingly about her tasks.
His
memories recall the age that hung on herhow she took care of him, despite her pain. We can also
infer that he remembers her fondlyfor the sacrifices she made; after all,
his "exile" was hers as well, and perhaps it was especially
difficult for her out in the country.
Because of his "unnoticed
exile," there is no pain in his recollections, but a fondness that he now revisits. He
knew the land: it was a regular companion
Here are the wooded slopes where often I
Sat motionless, and looked
down at the lake,
Recalling other shores and other waves...
He spent time before looking off and remembering where he used to
live. He describes the beauty of the water and the land that surrounds it in the
present:
It gleams between golden
cornfields and green meadows...
The speaker on this day
sees a fisherman with an "ancient net," and the sails of the windmill that struggle to
turn because the mill has grown "crooked" over time. There is the sense here
of timelessnesswhere things move much the way they have for many, many years, even before
he arrived twelve years before.
This land belonged to
his family (and still might); he refers to it as his "ancestral acres." This continues
the sense of time: for the land has been in his family for generations. We can safely assume
that the satisfaction he found here is tied most closely with the trees at the top of the
road.
There are three trees, which he rode under beneath the moonlight. The
trees "spoke" to him in a welcoming way. When he rode on horseback with the trees
above him, he would hear:
The friendly rustling murmur of
their crowns...
And the sound of the moving leaves
"welcomed" him. There can be no doubt now that he found pleasure in this spot.
Seemingly, he was allowed to move freely, especially evident if he was on his horse at night.
Around the base of the two of the trees, where nothing used to grow, there are now "young
pines," sprouting "like green children." The third tree stands some distance
away, "morose, / Like some old bachelor," and nothing grows around
it. It has no "children."
The speaker's
greeting of the trees excludes the solitary tree. And the speaker notes that while he will not
be returning to this place again, his grandson might. And when coming home
one night from perhaps a party, in a happy mood, he will hear the trees and think of the
speaker.
The initial image of "exile" and the
old single tree may title="symbolism">symbolize what someone had
intended for him when he was sent there years beforea solitary lonely
existence. However, what he found was beauty and family seen in images of
naturedear memories that he hopes his grandson will one day
enjoy.
