37. _Bourbon._ Mr. and Mrs. Browning were rejoicing at any indications that the people of Italy were awake to revolt against the Bourbons. See Mrs. Browning's "Casa Guidi Windows" and "First News from Villa Franca" and Mr. Browning's "The Italian in England." 40. _Queen Mary's saying._ For two hundred years Calais had been one of England's most important possessions. It was taken by the French in 1588, the last year of the reign of Queen Mary. What Queen Mary said of Calais, Browning says of Italy. HOME-THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD Compare the sentiment of this poem with that of "De Gustibus--" written ten years later. In "Home Thoughts from Abroad" we have one of Browning's rare uses of the scenery of his own country. 14. _That's the wise thrush._ The power of these lines in presenting both the musical and the emotional quality of the bird's song is rivaled only by Wilson Flagg's "The Bobolink" (quoted in John Burroughs's _Birds and Poets_) and Wordsworth's "To the Cuckoo." HOME-THOUGHTS FROM THE SEA 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. SAUL 1. _Abner._ The cousin of Saul and the commander of his army. _I Samuel_ xiv, 50. 9. _Saul and the Spirit._ For the conflict between Saul and the evil spirit, and the refreshment that came to him when David played, see _I Samuel_ xvi, 14-23. 12. _Gracious gold hair._ For the personal appearance of David, see _I Samuel_ xvi, 12, 18; xvii, 42. 12. _Those lilies ... blue._ Mrs. Coleridge wrote to Mr. Kenyon to know whether Mr. Browning had any authority for "blue lilies." Mr. Browning answered, "Lilies are of all colors in Palestine--one sort is particularized as _white_ with a dark blue spot and streak--the water lily, lotus, which I think I meant, is _blue_ altogether." (_Letters of R. B. and E. B. B._, i, 523, 556.)