Fern Hill

Critical Commentary on “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas

F

ern Hill is an exhilarating poem that not only encourages us with the fantastic use of metaphors and personification, but also makes us see the true value of time. Dylan Thomas talks about his childhood, playing on the farm and having as easy a life as could be. This poem arouses much emotion from the reader, painting a picture of an almost idyllic paradise and evoking the emotions of happiness and peace. The poem is written in a playful and joyous manner, which show that it talks about one’s childhood. In this poem there are many images that have reference to films, religion or other resources. This makes us see the poem as real and feel that it is part of us. 

In the first stanza, Dylan Thomas portrays a stunning image of him, as a young boy, playing on the farm and imagining himself as the “prince” of the place, for all the adults involuntarily spoiled him. He uses word families, such as “lordly”, “honored” and “prince”, to emphasize how naïve and “green” he was. He also talks about being “as happy as the grass was green”. Well, the grass is always green somewhere in the world, so that means he is always happy. In this case, the word “green” also shows how immature, youthful and foolish he was. Dylan also surprises us with a very fairytale-like phrasing: “once below a time”. But isn’t the original opening: “once upon a time”? That is true, but here Thomas wants to show us, using the “below”, that at that point in life, Thomas didn’t care for time and was throughoutly unaware of it. It is a very clever metaphor, which authentically depicts his attitude towards his lighthearted existence.

In the second stanza, I think the poem finally really takes shape. Dylan Thomas talks of being “famous among the barns”, using both personification and metaphors to present his thoughts. He offers us a merry rhythm to hang on to and that makes the poem much more easygoing. Thomas always uses a simile structure in the second line (e.g. “as the farm was home” or “as I was green and carefree”). This and the continuous reverberation, gives each stanza an edge. Another admirable phrase is “in the sun that is young once only”. That is a very motivating expression, for it is incredulously true – the sun is young only in the morning! Using this, the author also refers to the point that humans are young only once as well. Dylan Thomas uses one other phrase continuously as well – “time let me”. That is a wonderful example of personification in this piece of writing. The poet’s use of language is most intriguing, for he sets out to find the deepest and most hidden meaning in the simplest of words and also to juxtapose words in the most unpredictable manner. He positions the words in an irregular, but wise manner to produce the most effect, even if the word’s connotations are disparate. One of the phrases which caught my eye was “in the pebbles of the holy streams”. There are two meanings for this expression and we will most likely never know which one is the truth. The “pebbles” may mean human lives, all stranded in the “stream” of time that cannot ever stop. On the other hand, it can also mean that the “pebbles” are events in our life that are like stepping-stones for us to go forward in the never-ending flow of time. But still we can never turn against the current.

The third stanza is a dream, in the literal sense. It is written in the sleepy tone of a fantasy or story, as if it is a Disney film. “Al the sun long”, “the tunes from the chimneys” and eventually the whole set of lines (line 23 and onwards) – it all contributes to this dreamy state that this stanza implies. There are also many other interesting occurrences in the text: “watery” – slipping through your fingers, “fire green as grass” – innocent vigor. It is all very important. To the images the Dylan Thomas yearns for us to see. Most of them are concealed very deep – you cannot find them at first glance, but after a more detailed inspection, under the usual meaning and understand how much depth and knowledge language really bears. In line 23 and onwards, the poem really paints a picture or illustration worthy of any Disney movie / cartoon: several owls with rosy ribbons, carrying the farm into the starry night… In the phrase “as I rode to sleep”, we can almost feel these up-and-down rocking motions, reinforced by the varying rhythm of the poem. Up-and-down, up-and-down…

The 4^th stanza has a very religious notion. At first it talks about time as a “wanderer white”, but later on, it discusses the birth of the world and the Creation. Thomas delves deep into the matter, describing his innocent childhood as the Garden of Eden, using such images as: “Adam and maiden”, “the birth of the simple light”, “the first, spinning place” and the “fields of praise”. Some may wonder - Why maiden and not Eve? It is actually simple. “Maiden” is used when the woman is still virginal and, in this context, innocent. This means that this is the Garden before the snake, before its downfall. “The fields of praise” are also a rather tricky image. We almost always thing of the songs of praise in this setting, but for a child, the horses’ whinnying was the song of God. In the alliterative pattern of “warm”, “walking” and “whinnying”, we almost hear the soft, as if “spellbound” sound of the morning. It is also said that all the animals were created from nothing and so I am free to think that these “newly-made” horses are ‘spellbound” by the magnificence of this paradise.

In the fifth stanza everything changes. Here the intonation, rhythm and tone change abruptly, as it reaches its conclusion. The alliterative phrase “as happy as the heart was long” is almost ironical, for it means that he is happy as long as he is alive. “The sun born over and over” repeats itself from earlier, showing that the days go by. In the next line, the tone alters severely with the word – “heedless”. “Heedless” means without a care, without a thought. This makes us ask a question – what did Thomas forget? Later in the stanza, he talks about his “sky blue trades” (pure and innocent works) and of his broad wishes. With the word “allows”, we can fully appreciate the situation – now time does not simply let him, but the poet must ask for permission first. We see in this stanza that the author now realizes that he was not as free as he thinks he was.

The sixth Stanza, and the final one, is one of great importance and value. Thomas refers back to previous images and metaphors, such as “riding to sleep”. Two points of great interest occur to me as “the swallow thronged loft” and “the shadow of my hand”. The swallow is a bird that has come to be seen as the bird of death and symbolizes that Dylan Thomas is growing older and older. The “loft” can also be the same thing, for, as a child, we start at the “basement” and climb upwards until we finally reach the “loft”. And fall to the ground, off course. “The shadow of his hand” is an extended metaphor meaning that it is only just a memory of who he was before and not his actual self. Thomas’s writing has also changed from the beginning. Now he write about the moon always rising and not the sun as of before, meaning that his days seem to get shorter, pass quicker, and also that there is not much time left. He thinks about the farm “now fled from the childless land”, for he is now no longer a child. He talks about being “green and dying” – even approaching death, he’s still naïve. There is one very interesting phrase here: “though I sang in my chains like the sea”. He understood finally that he was always bound, one way or another, in the eternal stream of time – in its stone-cold hands.

This poem, no doubt about it, is one of the best I have ever read at this point. It makes us really think about our life and how we view it. I am truly amazed by the poet’s use of language and words. Though it is rarely seen, in this poem there are many half-rhymes (boughs, towns…), but that is not what is most important. In “Fern Hill”, there is an astonishing and ordered rhythmical layout. In almost all the stanzas there is a reference to Old Father Time ad it is all complimented by the sounds we can hear because of alliteration. This poem arouses all the senses, portraying vivid situations in our mind, which can even awake our own memories. It is a wonderful poem that I can see to be one of the best in the world.