Fern Hill

Dylan Thomasby

Themes

TimeYouthChangePastoral Idyll Sun and MoonHappiness

Time Time in “Fern Hill” is almost like a character.

Thomas personifies time throughout the poem, as something with immense power.

Youth

You’re only young once, and all those other clichés.The narrator in “Fern Hill” is young, existing in a world he views as untouched by time.

Thomas uses imagery of youth to convey this idea. “I was young and easy" and the “children green and golden” creates a picture of the Carefree days of childhood.

ChangeIf the speaker of ”Fern Hill "made one mistake as a youth, it’s that he failed to realize that being young doesn’t last forever. So at the beginning of the poem, we’ve got a footloose and fancy free youth, but by the end ,we’ve left with an older, wiser, sadder speaker.

Pastoral IdyllThe imagery of the farm represent the Garden of the Eden.”….It was all/Shining, it was Adam and maiden…So it must have been after the birth of theSimple light In the first, spinning place.”This imagery Coupled with reference to apples—”Apples boughs”and “apple towns”--conjures a sense of the ChristianConcept of paradise.

Sun and Moon Thomas repeatedly refers to the sun and moon. Imagery of the sun, including “the sun long it was running” and “the sun born over and over” Conveys the idea of endless day, contributing to the theme of youth untouched by time.

• Reference to the moon are in opposition to this Idea.

Happiness•In “Fern Hill” from the first line, through all of the first five stanzas, the speaker is praising his youth as a time of joy. And the poem’s playful sounds and language only mirror that emotion ,and there’s one thing the speaker hasn’t lost, it's hisability to remember just how great being young felt.

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