The poem is about the journey of the narrator. It was not just a simple journey away from home but a joyride of his lifetime. The narrator’s life is simple yet complicated. Though he was just a fisherman at the sea, he has many circumstances that he continues to think of. The author illustrated the narrator’s life and journey in a descriptive way that is why the poem became longer than expected. However, the argument and discussion of the narrator’s life is simple – his difficulty in seeing his family due to his work in the sea as a fisherman but in the end of the poem, he was home at last.
For me, I can say that there are many passages or parts of the poem that are difficult to understand but the most difficult is in the first stanza – The snug and round one, warm as a woman / With her stove stocked at night and her lanterns lit. I do not know what the author is trying to say in this part during the first read but as I read it many times, the woman was his boat who seemed to be his own after many years. This boat became his wife and home while he was in the sea to fish for his living.
On the other hand, my favorite passage in this poem is in the last stanza – For the last time, watching the naval men / Make a note of her number, take my name. / That was the end of my thirty years at the fishing / And the end of my boat, my home. This part was the most amazing and greatest part for me because it reveals the happiness and sadness of the narrator in these passages. He was happy as he ended his journey at the sea and could be able to rest but sad for it ended his attachment to his wife and home – his boat.
Work Cited From Call My People Home