Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape The Home Quotes Page 1

The Sea Hag calls Popeye's apartment "the home of Popeye" in Spanish, making it sound like a luxury villa. But we already know it's a cramped shoebox of a place. The Sea Hag's use of Spanish seems like a sign of sophistication. She comes off as very pampered and domestic, which runs totally against her name. Shouldn't she be living in a cave somewhere?

The author of the note pinned to Swee'pea's bib remains unknown, but it could be Popeye or his duplicate father, whose name we never tire of repeating: Poopdeck Pappy. The note seems to imply that "thunder and tears" would somehow help Popeye get his apartment back after being exiled by his father. But the word "Henceforth" reads like a decree. It means "from now on," like when you say to one of your siblings; "From now on, stay out of my room!"

In the cartoon series, Popeye's father was a lazy, good-for-nothing man. Ashbery spices up the story between Popeye and his son. His father plans to have him exiled to the country because he was jealous of the two truly valuable things in the apartment: Olive and spinach. The home is the battleground where this drama plays out. "Wizened," by the way, doesn't mean "wise" – it means wrinkled or old looking.