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Fern Hill

Dylan Thomas's poem 'Fern Hill' reflects on the beauty and innocence of childhood spent on a farm, filled with vivid imagery and nostalgia. The poem captures the joy of carefree youth while also lamenting the inevitable loss of innocence that comes with growing up. Through its structure and language, it emphasizes the fleeting nature of time and the bittersweet transition from childhood to adulthood.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views25 pages

Fern Hill

Dylan Thomas's poem 'Fern Hill' reflects on the beauty and innocence of childhood spent on a farm, filled with vivid imagery and nostalgia. The poem captures the joy of carefree youth while also lamenting the inevitable loss of innocence that comes with growing up. Through its structure and language, it emphasizes the fleeting nature of time and the bittersweet transition from childhood to adulthood.

Uploaded by

godsue32
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fern Hill

Dylan Thomas
The Author
• Dylan Thomas was born in Wales in 1914. He
died in 1953.
• He left school at the age of 16 to pursue a
literary career.
• He was famous for his original and lyrical poetry
and radio broadcasts.
Context

• The Fern Hill referred


to in the poem is a real
place.
• Thomas spent much of
his childhood here and
remembers it fondly.
• The poem is a form of
autobiography.
1. Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
2. About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
3. The night above the dingle starry,
4. Time let me hail and climb
5. Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
6. And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
7. And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
8. Trail with daisies and barley
9. Down the rivers of the windfall light.
10. And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
11. About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
12. In the sun that is young once only,
13. Time let me play and be
14. Golden in the mercy of his means,
15. And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
16. Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
17. And the sabbath rang slowly
18. In the pebbles of the holy streams.
19. All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
20. Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
21. And playing, lovely and watery
22. And fire green as grass.
23. And nightly under the simple stars
24. As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
25. All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
26. Flying with the ricks, and the horses
27. Flashing into the dark.
28. And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
29. With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
30. Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
31. The sky gathered again
32. And the sun grew round that very day.
33. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
34. In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
35. Out of the whinnying green stable
36. On to the fields of praise.
37. And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
38. Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
39. In the sun born over and over,
40. I ran my heedless ways,
41. My wishes raced through the house high hay
42. And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
43. In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
44. Before the children green and golden
45. Follow him out of grace,
46. Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
47. Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
48. In the moon that is always rising,
49. Nor that riding to sleep
50. I should hear him fly with the high fields
51. And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
52. Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
53. Time held me green and dying
54. Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
Summary
• The poet presents an ideal vision of childhood on a
farm in the English countryside.
• The vivid imagery is presented through the innocent
eyes of a child who sees the wonder in every-
thing around him.
• There is a clear feeling of nostalgia – he
longs for those days.
• The final stanzas echo this feeling as he
regrets the loss of innocence that comes with
growing up.
Form & Structure

• Six stanzas of nine lines


• Free verse – emphasises freedom of his childhood
• The number of syllables in each line repeat in each stanza:
14;14;9;6;9;14;14;7;9
• This self-imposed restriction reflects how his
adult mind views the ‘freedom’ of childhood
through the constraints of being ‘grown up’
• Stanza 1-3 are about his childhood
Stanza 3-6 are about ‘growing up’ and losing
innocence
He is speaking as an adult looking back.

Diction – when he was young and had no responsibilities (life was ‘easy’)
1. Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs

Personification – the house is singing; it was a happy home.

Simile – happiness compared to the how green the grass was; his happiness is linked to the fertile area
2. About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
Time of day
is given. 3. The night above the dingle starry, Diction – a forested valley

Personification – time becomes his guardian, allowing him to do what he wants; as a child he had the
freedom to do with his time what he wants

4. Time let me hail and climb


Diction – his ‘heydays’, or his past, are described as ‘golden’; suggesting they were rich and luxurious

5. Golden in the heydays of his eyes,


Metonymy – refer to rural farming villages; lit. towns that only exist for farming apples

6. And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns


Metaphor – he compares himself to royalty or nobility of his domain; his childhood made him feel like this
paradise was made just for him.

7. And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves

He remembers an abundance of wild (‘daisies’) and cultivated (‘barley’) life; even the rivers seemed to filled with light,
suggesting a paradise where no darkness existed.

8. Trail with daisies and barley

‘windfall’ suggests that he realises his abundant childhood was good fortune.

9. Down the rivers of the windfall light.


Metaphor – he was young and innocent; unripe; plant metaphor is appropriate for the farm setting
10. And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns

Diction – emphasises that he was happy; the worries of the world did not weigh him
down.
11. About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,

Personification Even the sun is bound by the passage of time.

12. In the sun that is young once only,


Personification Time is again portrayed as a guardian that allowed him to live his childhood the way he
wanted; it is the only ‘mercy’ time could offer him.

13. Time let me play and be

Metaphor – he was his best self; able to be anything

14. Golden in the mercy of his means,


Metaphor – he could be whatever he wanted to be; the hero of his own story with the animals his willing friends

15. And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves

16. Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
‘sabbath’ creates a Biblical allusion; the farm is like paradise; and his childhood was like one long day of rest.
‘slowly’ emphasizes that his childhood seemed to last forever; reference again to Time allowing him to be free.

17. And the sabbath rang slowly

Metaphor – the water is made divine; blessed; suggestion that this is a paradise. Links to the ‘windfall light’
from stanza 1.
18. In the pebbles of the holy streams.
Personification – the sun ‘running’ refers to the passage of time; as he The piles of hay refer again to the
thinks back it feels like time passed too quickly. abundance of his childhood.
19. All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay

Metaphor – chimneys are compared to pipes playing music, reinforcing the happiness in the home
20.Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air

21. And playing, lovely and watery

Metaphor – the colour of the fire is compared to the green of the grass; this emphasizes his innocence
that he was so ‘green’ that even fire, a dangerous element, seemed harmless.
22. And fire green as grass.
Diction – the universe was without complication; the stars were just stars
23. And nightly under the simple stars
Metaphor – he is dreaming; taken to the land of dreams
24. As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,

Even at night the farm was full of life and sounds; it was a vibrant place.

25. All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars

26. Flying with the ricks, and the horses


Refers to the night; as long
as the moon is in the sky

27. Flashing into the dark.


Personification – farm compared to a traveler that left him and has returned, but now he is
Conjunction older and the farm has changed.
seems to flow
from previous 28. And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
stanza and
The ‘white’ ‘dew’ is symbolic of snow and winter. A contrast to the green springtime of his youth.
introduces
the change. 29. With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Time is the rooster, that heralds the new day and forces him to wake up/grow up.

30. Shining, it was Adam and maiden,


Allusion – reference to the Garden of Eden; the farm was like Eden until he lost his innocence/grew up.
31. The sky gathered again
Personification – the sun growing indicates time passing
32. And the sun grew round that very day.
33. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
Diction – the word
Metaphor – the new dawn, his awakening/growing up is compared to the first suggests they were
day of creation; it the start of something new. comfortable before
34. In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking having to head out into
warm the cold; what awaits
them outside the stable
Onomatopoeia – sound of the horses adds to the image is not going to be
comfortable.

35. Out of the whinnying green stable


Metaphor – stable is coloured green to represent innocence, the horses were protected inside; his
carefree childhood is like the stable the horses were staying in

36. On to the fields of praise.


He felt like nobility on the farm amongst the animals

Personification – repeats the image of the happy house; his childhood was a happy one
37. And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Simile – his heart is filled with happiness; every part

38. Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
Personification – the sun seemed to be forever young, it seemed like his childhood would never end
39. In the sun born over and over,

He did not appreciate what he had - regret


40. I ran my heedless ways,

41. My wishes raced through the house high hay


Metaphor – his ‘trades’ or activities are compared to the sky in that he thought they were endless

42. And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
Personification – time is again shown to allow him to enjoy his youth; time is like a musician that
conducts his childhood
43. In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs

Repeated image of children being ‘green’ (unripe, young) and ‘golden’ (blessed, fortunate)
44. Before the children green and golden

These songs in the ‘morning’ refer to the ‘morning’ of life, or childhood.


45. Follow him out of grace,

Allusion again to Adam and Eve leaving Eden;


eventually time has to lead him out of paradise.
Symbol – the ‘lamb white’ refers to his innocence.

Personification – time is again personified; he is with the speaker the whole time

46. Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me

Diction – the first dark image in the poem; draws the reader’s attention to the change

47. Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,


Contrasting Image: The sun has been replaced by the moon; it is ‘always rising’ and cannot be stopped; just like the sun
was childhood, the moon is adulthood

48. In the moon that is always rising,


49. Nor that riding to sleep
50. I should hear him fly with the high fields
The farm is no longer a paradise, childhood has ended

51. And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Diction – tone of regret and longing
52. Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Figurative – the ‘green’ of his childhood is ‘dying’; the speaker is growing up

53. Time held me green and dying


Metaphor – he is ‘chained’ by being forced to grow up, but like the sea he fights against it with a restless fury; his
childhood memories remain with him like a song.

The speaker admits he took advantage of


54. Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
time’s mercy instead of appreciating it
Themes
• Childhood joy and innocence
This poem is at its core a celebration of childhood. The speaker was a happy
and innocent child and part of a harmonious world.
• Harmony and the Wonder of Nature
The speaker’s childhood joy is closely connected to playing outside. The
poem suggests that real joy comes from a sense of connection with the
natural world.
• Time
Throughout the poem, time looms like a godlike presence. Time grants the
speaker a brief period of childhood happiness. However, time also ensures
that nothing lasts forever and that childhood joys come to an end
• The end of childhood grace
The poem implies that when children grow up, they lose the ‘grace’ of
childhood and its joys.
Questions
1. What does the speaker mean by “As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the
farm away” (line 24)? (2)
2. Describe the tone in the first four stanzas. (2)
3. Where and how does the tone alter? Explain your answer. (3)
4. What is the significance of the references to colours? (3)
5. Discuss what Thomas says about time in this poem. (2)
6. What realisation does the speaker have in line 51 when he says, “And wake to the
farm forever fled from the childless land”? (2)
7. How does the speaker suggest the beauty and innocence of the beginning of the
world in stanza 4? (3)
8. What does this poem suggest about Thomas’ view of the relationship between
humankind and Nature? (2)

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