This poem and the preceding one express two phases of the poet's love of
country; his affection for the physical beauty of England, and his pride
in her political freedom. In the first poem, he turns, in thought, from
the glowing color of Italy, to the more delicate loveliness of England
in April; in the second poem, he longs to repay the service his country
has rendered him in defeating foreign foes.
"Home-Thoughts from the Sea" was written at the same time and under the
same circumstances as "How they brought the Good News from Ghent to
Aix." The poet, aboard a vessel coasting along the shore of Africa,
could see to the northwest the Portuguese Cape Vincent, near which, in
1797, England won a naval victory over Spain; southeast of Cape Vincent,
on the Spanish coast, Cadiz Bay, where, in 1796, England defeated the
second Spanish Armada; and southeast of Cadiz Bay, Cape Trafalgar,
where, in 1805, Nelson won a famous victory over the allied fleets of
France and Spain. To the northeast, the poet could see Gibraltar, the
great fortress which England acquired from Spain by the Peace of
Utrecht, 1713.