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Comment 25 of 25, added on March 7th, 2010 at 7:18 PM.
Fern Hill
I am very sad when i see comments that Dylan Thomas is a very 'sick man' etc. I am not over thirty, but i love this poems, and can see the beauty in it. Dylan Thomas is by far one of my favourite poets. The way that the language is almost song-like in its quality is mesmerising.
I believe the most important theme of this poem is time, and how the speaker can no longer access the past, similar to the idea of a utopia (heaven or Eden) As the first line beings "Now as I was..." you can see the paradox that is immediately set up between the tenses.
As the poem progresses the speaker makes a direct reference to Eden: "it was Adam and maiden". With reference to colour the reader can see how blissful this place is. As the speaker is remembering childhood colours are important as a child would not have the language an adult would use when describing their feelings.
The last line of the second to last stanza develops the theme of time, "Follow him out of grace" as you grow up you loose your innocence. The world is no longer sunny, it is where the moon "always rising".
Yet, although the speaker is nostalgic of his past that is not to say he is totally depressed that he is old. Time holds the speaker "green and dying"; he accepts the inevitability that he is not immortal - yet as we know from previous stanzas green is linked to happiness - the speaker is not despairing.
The last line is my favourite line of the whole poem. The idea that even though the speaker may have an old body that does not make him unyouthful.the imagery links chains and water - and obviously you cannot shackle water because of its fluidity.
If it helps try listening to the poem on youtube as it may give you a greater understanding of how it should sound. When reading the poem you must accept that 'Fern Hill' may lead you to the land where you do not understand, but go with it, don't hinder it. Just as you cannot stop time, you cannot stop the flow of the poem.
Don't give up on Thomas, perhaps in a few years when you are out of school, and you realise that not all poetry is a drag, and it doesn't suck as much as it once did you will be able to accept that poetry makes familiar themes and concepts, at first, unfamiliar. In order for you to have a greater understanding, as it gives you an alternative perspective.
Don't give up, Dylan Thomas rules - and 'Fern Hill' is by far an amazing poem.
For all 'Fern Hill' lovers check out the Rainkings song 'Fern Hill' - beautiful!
alice from United Kingdom
Comment 24 of 25, added on February 15th, 2010 at 11:12 PM.
Fern Hill and Ode on the Imitation Of Imortality
I am now 70 years old. As the years go by I seem more and more to understand many of the things that Thomas is saying. A short interpretation is that ,like me, DT is lamenting the drying up of his days on this earth. He died as a young man and I think he knew that his life was going to be short. I have often thought that the poem of Wordsworth was pretty much kin to Fern Hill. The similarity is hard to put into words but poetry has always been a subjective thing with me as ,I suspect, it is with all people. As an aside, I have loved poetry for over sixty years and Of all the poems that I have read and loved, The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock is the most significant poem I have ever read.
allen from United States
Comment 23 of 25, added on May 5th, 2009 at 4:51 PM.
ah, fern hill...to be a young child again.
Carol from Slovakia Republic
Comment 22 of 25, 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 21 of 25, added on February 26th, 2008 at 12:36 AM.
2-26-08
To all:
Do you know who has the copyright ( and how to contact ) or is it public domain?
I'm writing something for the Firemen of 9-11 and want to incorporate several lines.
Thanks,
Ray
Ray Hart from United States
Comment 20 of 25, 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 19 of 25, added on July 30th, 2006 at 6:54 PM.
Does stating Dylan Thomas was "a sick man" and "this is a very strange poem" facilitate your understanding of the poet or poem?
Think – What on-going themes are there in Dylan Thomas’ poetry? What prior knowledge do you have that will assist your understanding of the poem?
Randal from United States
Comment 18 of 25, 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 17 of 25, added on June 23rd, 2006 at 2:02 PM.
i dont understand this poem. what was he thinking??
Jenna from United States
Comment 16 of 25, 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
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2 3
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I am very sad when i see comments that Dylan Thomas is a very 'sick man' etc. I am not over thirty, but i love this poems, and can see the beauty in it. Dylan Thomas is by far one of my favourite poets. The way that the language is almost song-like in its quality is mesmerising.
I believe the most important theme of this poem is time, and how the speaker can no longer access the past, similar to the idea of a utopia (heaven or Eden) As the first line beings "Now as I was..." you can see the paradox that is immediately set up between the tenses.
As the poem progresses the speaker makes a direct reference to Eden: "it was Adam and maiden". With reference to colour the reader can see how blissful this place is. As the speaker is remembering childhood colours are important as a child would not have the language an adult would use when describing their feelings.
The last line of the second to last stanza develops the theme of time, "Follow him out of grace" as you grow up you loose your innocence. The world is no longer sunny, it is where the moon "always rising".
Yet, although the speaker is nostalgic of his past that is not to say he is totally depressed that he is old. Time holds the speaker "green and dying"; he accepts the inevitability that he is not immortal - yet as we know from previous stanzas green is linked to happiness - the speaker is not despairing.
The last line is my favourite line of the whole poem. The idea that even though the speaker may have an old body that does not make him unyouthful.the imagery links chains and water - and obviously you cannot shackle water because of its fluidity.
If it helps try listening to the poem on youtube as it may give you a greater understanding of how it should sound. When reading the poem you must accept that 'Fern Hill' may lead you to the land where you do not understand, but go with it, don't hinder it. Just as you cannot stop time, you cannot stop the flow of the poem.
Don't give up on Thomas, perhaps in a few years when you are out of school, and you realise that not all poetry is a drag, and it doesn't suck as much as it once did you will be able to accept that poetry makes familiar themes and concepts, at first, unfamiliar. In order for you to have a greater understanding, as it gives you an alternative perspective.
Don't give up, Dylan Thomas rules - and 'Fern Hill' is by far an amazing poem.
For all 'Fern Hill' lovers check out the Rainkings song 'Fern Hill' - beautiful!
alice from United Kingdom