“Home is where the heart is”
“Home” was a popular subject for early 19th century poetry. “The heart which forms the home” is a line in the poem “Solitude” that was published in The Literary Gazette (London), on August 31, 1822. The 1823 comic opera, Clari, or the Maid of Milan, by John Howard Payne (1791-1852), contained these lines in “Home, Sweet Home”:
“Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”
“‘Tis Home Where’er the Heart Is” is a poem that was printed in The Morning Post (London, UK) on October 20, 1828, and also printed in many other newspapers. The poem was credited to the publication Winter Wreath. The poem was titled “Home Is Where the Heart Is” in The Atlas, Or Literary, Historical and Commercial Reporter (New York, NY) on January 24, 1829.
“Home is where the heart is” means that home is any place of deepest affection. The “home” saying has had many variations, such as “Home is where the free food is,” “Home is where the mortgage is,” “Home is where the tap water doesn’t taste funny” and “Home is where the Wi-Fi connects automatically.”
Oxford Dictionaries
home is where the heart is
PHRASE
proverb
Your home will always be the place for which you feel the deepest affection, no matter where you are.
Google Books
31 August 1822, The Literary Gazette, and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Science, &c. (London, UK), “Original Poetry,” pg. 552, col. 1:
SOLITUDE.
(...)
To lands where foot had seldom been,
Were it our fate to roam,
Still ‘tis the heart which gilds the scene,
The heart which forms the home.
Our path may be the wilderness,
But still by joy pursued,
The one lov’d hand in ours we press,
And find no Solitude.
Aug. 26th. MATHILDE.
Newspapers.com
20 October 1828, The Morning Post (London, UK), pg. 3, col. 3:
‘TIS HOME WHERE’ER THE HEART IS.
“Tis home where’er the heart is
Where’er its loved ones dwell,
Where ‘er its loved ones dwell,
In cities or in cottages,
Thronged haunts or mossy dell:
The heart’s a rover ever,
And thus on wave and wild,
The maiden with her lover walks,
The mother with her child.
‘Tis bright where’er the heart is:
Its fairy spells can bring
Fresh fountains to the wilderness,
And to the desert—spring.
There are green isles in each ocean,
O’er which affection glides;
And a haven on each shore,
When Love’s the star the guides.
‘Tis free where’er the heart is:
Nor chains nor dungeon dim,
May check the mind’s aspirings,
The spirit’s pealing hymn!
The heart gives life its beauty,
Its glory and its power,—
Its sunlight to its rippling stream,
And soft dew to its flower.
X. X.
Newspapers.com
19 December 1828, Liverpool (UK) Mercury, pg. 406, col. 1:
‘TIS HOME WHERE’ER THE HEART IS.
(From the Winter’s Wreath.)
24 January 1829, The Atlas, Or Literary, Historical and Commercial Reporter (New York, NY), pg. 1, col. 4:
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.
‘Tis Home where’er the heart is,
Where ‘er its loved ones dwell,
In cities or in cottages,
Thronged haunts or mossy dell;
The heart’s a rover ever,
And thus on wave and wild,
The maiden with her lover walks,
The mother with her child.
‘Tis bright where’er the heart is,
Its fairy spells can bring
Fresh fountains to the wilderness,
And to the desert—spring.
There are green isles in each ocean,
O’er which affection glides,
And a haven on each shore,
When Love’s the star the guides.
‘Tis free where’er the heart is,
Nor chains nor dungeon dim,
May check the mind’s aspirings,
The spirit’s pealing hymn!
The heart gives life its beauty,
Its glory and its power,—
Its sunlight to its rippling stream,
And soft dew to its flower.
Wint. Wreath.
31 January 1829, Boston (MA) Statesman, pg. 4, col. 2:
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.
‘Tis Home where’er the heart is,
Where ‘er its loved ones dwell,
In cities or in cottages,
Thronged haunts or mossy dell;
The heart’s a rover ever,
And thus on wave and wild,
The maiden with her lover walks,
The mother with her child.
‘Tis bright where’er the heart is,
Its fairy spells can bring
Fresh fountains to the wilderness,
And to the desert—spring.
There are gree nislaes in each ocean,
O’er which affection glides,
And a haven on each shore,
When Love’s the star the guides.
‘Tis free where’er the heart is,
Nor chains nor dungeon dim,
May check the mind’s aspirings,
The spirit’s pealing hymn!
The heart gives life its beauty,
Its glory and its power,—
Its sunlight to its rippling stream,
And soft dew to its flower.
Wint. Wreath.
OCLC WorldCat record
For home is where the heart is : ballad
Author: W W Cameron; Aurelia Hammond
Publisher: Chicago : National Music Co., ©1894.
Edition/Format: Musical score : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Home is where the heart is
Author: John A O’Shea
Publisher: Boston : John A. O’Shea, ©1896.
Edition/Format: Musical score : No Linguistic Content
OCLC WorldCat record
Home is where the heart is : (Home, sweet home)
Author: Manuel Klein
Publisher: New York : M. Witmark & Sons, ©1912.
Edition/Format: Musical score : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Where the heart is : a novel
Author: Billie Letts
Publisher: New York : Warner Books, ©1995.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : English View all editions and formats
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
Talk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for california with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. But Novalee is about to discover hidden treasures in this small Southwest town - a group of down-to-earth, deeply caring people willing to help a homeless, jobless girl living secretly in a Wal-Mart. From a Bible-thumping blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband to eccentric librarian Forney Hull who loves Novalee more than she loves herself, they are about to take her - and you, too - on a moving, funny, and unforgettable journey to ... where the heart is.
IMDb (The Internet Movie Database)
Where the Heart Is (2000)
PG-13 | 2h | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 28 April 2000 (USA)
A pregnant 17-year-old rebuilds her life after being abandoned by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.
Director: Matt Williams
Writers: Lowell Ganz (screenplay), Babaloo Mandel (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Natalie Portman, James Frain, Ashley Judd
Quora
What is the meaning of ‘home is where the heart is’?
Bhanu Pratap Chauhan, I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out
Answered Jul 21, 2015
Your home is the place where you spend your most of the time, where you desire to be; at the end of the day, you open the door, feel the warmth and safety of the walls surrounding you, comfort and fellow feeling between you and your home and family. This is, in a way, your condensed world.
Important India
‘Home is where the heart is’ – Origin, Meaning, Explanation and Importance of the Proverb
On August 14, 2016 By LightHouse
Origin
The origin of this proverb is unclear, however the first written instances of ‘home is where the heart is’ appear in the mid nineteenth century.
Perhaps the earliest of all is in a work by Joseph Neal in 1847. However, some people believe that the phrase was said earlier, in the mid seventeenth century, by the jurist Edmund Coke.