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Fern Hill, a poem that was completed in 1945, narrates vividly the days of the poet's childhood when he
lived on a dairy farm with his aunt and uncle.
The poem recreates the child's uncomplicated view of life and his vivid use of the imagination in living out
a simple, rustic life.
NOTE ON THE POET
Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea -- Wales -- in October 1914. His father was a schoolmaster, his
mother a seamstress.
The poet spent much of his youth in Swansea where he often visited his aunt's dairy farm. It was these
visits which inspired much of his poetry. "Fern Hill" records memories of those happy days.
Thomas was always a sickly child who tended to keep to himself. He was educated initially at a private
school which he referred to as Mrs. Hole's "Dame School". Later he would attend the Swansea Grammar
School where he published his first poem in the school's magazine.
He loved literature but ignored most of his other subjects, eventually dropping out of school at 16,
thereupon becoming a reporter for a local newspaper. Later he would continue to work as a freelance
journalist.
Most of his poems and short stories were written at his home at Cwmdonkin in Wales.
When World War II erupted, Thomas was essentially not fit to fight. Instead he worked for the Ministry
of Information, producing propaganda movies. It was during this time, however, that he began to drink
heavily.
He would later become famous for his poetry readings where his Welsh accent captivated audiences.
He was particularly involved with the BBC and is now most remembered for his play-for-voices called
Under Milk Wood.
Like Under Milk Wood, his poetry was renowned for its play on sounds and words, and for its
quaint imagery and word order.
Thomas married a dancer, Caitlin MacNamara, and maintained a stormy relationship where rumours of
affairs on both sides were rife. They would have three children.
He would die in New York in November 1953 from an overindulgence in alcohol . He was then just 39
years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green.
- The colours green and gold play a major role in this poem. What is the purpose of consistently
referring to these colours? (10)
[Need help?]
Because green is the colour of plants when they are growing, it also becomes synonymous with youth and
life. However, it can also refer to immaturity, e.g. "He was green behind the ears".
The poet is probably using all of these meanings. The boy is very young and overflowing with life like a
young shoot that is growing. At the same time, he sometimes does appear to be rather naive and
immature, not understanding the purpose of life.
Gold, on the other hand, means either wealth or ripeness. The corn is golden when it is ripe.
The poet appears to use the word in both these senses in this poem. The country is rich and wonderful,
while at the same time the harvest is ready to be reaped. Everything is golden.
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- Comment on the simile, "happy as the grass was green". (4)
[Need help?]
Because the colour green is synonymous with growth and vitality, it is also very often associated with
happiness. This is, however, not a usual simile but shows the poet's delight in playing with words so as
to produce his depth of meaning.
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The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes.
[Need help?]
A "dingle" is a deep wooded valley.
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- Why does the poet refer to the dingle as "the dingle starry"? (4)
[Need help?]
It is night-time and the sky is clear, and so overhead there are the stars.
Dylan Thomas is known for his delight in playing with words and producing what is known as
transferred epithets, i.e. he transfers the adjective or epithet from one word to another.
In his famous Play for Voices, Under Milk Wood, Thomas refers to dogs sniffing in the "wet-
nosed dingle". It is the dogs, of course, who have the wet noses but in a clever transposing of the
epithet, the dingle itself is said to have the wet-nose.
Has the poet used a transferred epithet when he speaks about "the night above the dingle starry"?
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- What does the poet mean when he says, "Time let me hail and climb golden in the heydays of his
eyes"? (4)
[Need help?]
Notice the play on words "hail" and "heydays"! Also notice that several times in this poem
the poet refers to "hay".
The word "hail" could mean that the boy is greeting passers-by very forcefully. "Hail" is also
used in the expression "hail and hearty", meaning that the boy was very well and full of life.
It is possible that the poet is identifying "Time" and the sun. The movement of the sun in the sky
is synonymous with the passing of time. The sun is golden, while at the same time constant exposure to
the sun would make the boy's skin golden brown.
Notice that Time "allows" the boy to be free. The poet is being very cunning here by referring to
freedom while at the same time suggesting that Time controls that freedom. The freedom will disappear
when the boy gets older because of the passing of time.
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And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
- What image is the poet presenting when he speaks of being "the prince of the apple
towns"? (4)
[Need help?]
It is of course a metaphor. It would seem that this is harvest time. The farmer is loading his cart with
apples but he allows the boy to sit on top of the load of apples, like a prince who is proudly surveying his
world.
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- Comment on the poet's rather quaint wording, "once below a time". (4)
[Need help?]
Dylan Thomas loved playing with words. He was different from many of the other poets of his age, such
as T.S. Elliot, who used words to make profound social comments.
Thomas luxuriates in using words to produce joy and laughter. He would love you to laugh as you read
the words "once below a time" knowing that all fairy stories begin with the words "once upon a
time".
In other words, he has changed "upon" or on top of to "below" or underneath.
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- What is a "windfall"? (2)
[Need help?]
A "windfall" literally refers to that fruit which falls off the tree when the wind blows.
It also means "an unexpected gain" because it was a rule that any fruit that fell off the tree could
be picked up and eaten, but the fruit that remained on the tree belonged strictly to the farmer and could
not be touched.
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- Why should the poet speak of the "rivers of the windfall light"? (4)
[Need help?]
The expression "rivers of the windfall light" is another example of the poet's playing with words.
He could be meaning "the rivers of light" that flows between the leaves of the trees but then he
throws in the idea of a windfall -- the windfall is so great that there are rivers of fruit on the ground.
Or perhaps there was just such an abundance of light that it was free for everybody to enjoy.
Can you see any other possible meaning?
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Time let me play and be
Golden in the mercy of his means.
- Can the small boy be said to be free or not free? (4)
[Need help?]
It has already been mentioned in an earlier question that the poet is hinting at the fact that the boy is not
entirely free.
Time "allows" him to play. He is at the "mercy" of time.
So yes, he is free but only because Time allows him to be free. Later Time will stop the freedom and life
will become serious.
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And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.
- Comment fully on the words and imagery which the poet has chosen in these two
lines. (6)
[Need help?]
I hope you have been careful in examining the words. The sentence is really rich in meaning.
Note, for example, that the poet says the "sabbath rang slowly". This is, of course, another
example of a transferred epithet. It's not the sabbath but the church bells that are ringing.
Secondly, it is also not the church bells themselves that are ringing but rather the noise of the stream
flowing over the pebbles in the streams. The poet is nowhere near church but the sound of the stream
has the same effect as the church bells.
And notice that the sabbath is a holy day, but the poet has transferred that epithet to the streams, making
the streams holy! In doing so, he reinforces the idea that nature itself is to him something that is very holy.
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GENERAL QUESTION:
In what way does the poet's use of free verse enable him to portray the spirit of the small boy more
richly? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is describing the fun that he had had as a little boy, when he was free to wander around the farm
and countryside, playing and doing whatever took his fancy.
The use of free verse reinforces that freedom. If the poet had chosen to use rhyming verses, would it not
hamper the idea of freedom?
Notice too how each line of the verses is indented to differing degrees.
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