ErinM



"Fern Hill" Dylan Thomas

**T** “Fern Hill” gives the illusion that the poem is set in a pasture or open area, and represents possibly a simple farm life. **P** The poem displays the evolution in a person’s life from the innocence of childhood to the experience of life. In the beginning, the speaker is a carefree child living on the farm, and he develops over time to be a matured man suffering from the passage of time. **C** Imagery – the farm is described in great detail, as was the boy’s life. Like in the third stanza, as the speaker describes “flying with the ricks, and the horses flashing into the dark.” Details – in depth details of the life on the farm and the various components to the speaker’s childhood, such as the “trail with daisies and barley down the rivers of the windfall light.” (8, 9) “All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air and playing, lovely and watery…” (19-23). Details in the final two stanzas differ from the first 4 stanzas, as they focus more on the end of the day and nightfall, rather than of the man’s childhood. Language – colloquial Syntax – the lines are flowing, but short Form – there are six stanzas, with nine lines in each stanza. Point of view – an older man reminiscing on his childhood Allusions – “Adam and maiden” (fourth stanza), religious undertones are found in stanzas 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Symbolism – Fern Hill represents the man’s childhood innocence, his memory of viewing the stars represents a simpler time in his life, and the farm also represented a place he could call home. **Attitude –** the speaker describes the farm and his memories in great detail, and in the end seems melancholy in the end, as he state, “Time held me green and dying though I sang in my chains like the sea.” **Shifts –** The tone shifts from happy memories and thoughts about the innocence of childhood, to the worries of adulthood and death. **Theme –** The growth from innocence into adulthood, the loss of innocence as one grows up. **Title –** Fern Hill represents a location that is similar to the Garden of Eden for the speaker, as it was a place where he felt almost like royalty, and was carefree until he grew up and was able to reflect on his time spent there. []