Comment 22 of 23, added on August 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 AM.

The poem is basically a lament for the joy and idealism of lost youth and I think is best appreciated and understood by those who are older and past youth(say over 30): youth are in the midst (hopefully) of experiencing things fresh and new and for that reason I do not think it a suitable poem for school English classes (perhaps that is why there are so many comments here about not understanding it - though it is simple enough if you read it without trying too hard - and it helps if you have ever been on a farm too). It is one of the few longer poems I have learned by heart and recite, often out loud, when I am walking in the woods. I am now 65 and I spent a similar youth as described in the poem in Carmarthen, Wales in the mid-20th Century (only a few miles from Fern Hill farm -yes it is real you can now stay there - and Thomas's house at Larne on the coast). In fact my welsh grandfather, a great scholar of Robert Burns, and a shop manager, apparently used to lend Thomas small amounts of money at times and got small short handwritten poems back as interest payment (I don't think he ever got any principal back - but then that was not the point). When he died my grandmother burned these saying of Thomas:'he was a horrible man - I wouldn't have him in the house.' Horrible or not he was a great poet and 'Fern Hill' has the incantory quality of great Welsh mediaeval poetry. It seemed to be a characteristic (now sadly lost) that working people in the mid-20thC and before often had interests in rather unlikely things and had time to develop them. For example, the local garbage collector was the UK expert on Cistercian monastic tiles and would sometimes go to the museums in London to identify any recent acquisitions they had. I myself had plenty of time to get involved in local Roman and Mediaeval archeology - and none of my school friends thought this weird. There is far too much formal learning in school these days and not enough time for children to simply experience life and develop their own interests and opinions. Hence the deadening conformity that now surrounds us.

michael brookfield from Canada

Comment 20 of 23, added on August 1st, 2006 at 4:12 AM.

What a strange coincidence we both came here. I am writing the essay a day late, and I still don't get the poem. Or more I get parts of it but they all float around and don't connect to make a proper picture of WTF DYLAN THOMAS IS TALKING ABOUT??!

Andrew from New Zealand

Comment 18 of 23, added on July 30th, 2006 at 2:15 AM.

This poem is a very strange poem. I did not understand it at all and from reading everyone elses comments i am not alone. I have to write an essay on it for english but how am i to write about something i do not understand. Dylan was a very sick man to create such a poem like this

lindsay Clements from New Zealand

Comment 16 of 23, added on June 5th, 2006 at 9:03 PM.

Thomas deliberately describes his life as i'm blue da ba dee da ba dye

thomas from Chile

Comment 14 of 23, added on March 26th, 2006 at 1:09 PM.

Bailey,
I disagree with your comment entirely. You need to understand that poetry is often what the reader makes of it (not what a teacher tells you that it means). There are at least three religious refrences. The sabbath and holy streams, the "blessed among stables" (refering to the blessed virgin) and "Adam and the Maiden" taken out of Genisis 1. This poem could very well (and in fact is by some) be read as a praise of god for his glorious creation. I don't know how I feel about the poem but you should understand that the poem can be read many different ways. And that being a teacher doesn't make one infallible.

Ludovico from United States