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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:
In the sun born over and over,
I ran my heedless ways.
- How could the child be "born over and over"? (2)
[Need help?]
The poet seems to be portraying the idea that, for the boy, each new day is a rebirth into a world of
excitement and adventure. He is therefore born over and over.
Is there any other meaning to these words?
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My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.
- Comment on the imagery and language usage in "the house high hay". (4)
[Need help?]
First, we are looking at the most marvellous alliteration, aren't we?
But do you notice how the poet has created a crescendo of vowel sounds -- from the deep "house"
to the midrange "high" to the upper "hay"?
Both the alliteration and the vowel sounds bestow a distinctly lyrical quality to these lines.
There is something else though. The hay is "house high". Presumably the poet is referring to the
hay stacks which are enormous, as big as a house.
Earlier in the poem, the poet referred to the fields themselves being "house high", probably because
the fields have been mown and the resultant hay piled high onto stacks, making the fields metaphorically
as high as a house.
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- What does the poet mean when he says that the children are "green and
golden"? (4)
[Need help?]
"Greenness" conveys an image of youth, growth, immaturity and naivety. The children are all of
this: they are young, growing, but at the same time immature.
It does seem that the poet is also attempting to put across the idea that they are in fact naive, not
understanding the real world but living their life in a delusion of dreams in which they believe that they are
forever young.
"Golden" conveys an image of ripeness and richness. The world around the children is ripe and
rich. The fields are golden, rich with the autumn harvest. The haystacks are golden.
The children too are golden. In this sense it could mean that the children are wealthy in the plentitude of
all around them. They are probably also golden from playing in the sun, their skins being a healthy golden
brown.
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Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
- Dylan Thomas loved using a wealth of imagery and quaint language in his poems. Explain how this
is true for the above lines. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet reveals the youth and freedom of the boy. He is "young" and "easy". He is also
"green" which, as you know, is an image of youth, growth and naivety.
Time is personified. Old Man Time -- often portrayed as the Grim Reaper -- holds the boy's life "in
chains". The boy is a slave to Time even though Time is allowing him for the moment plenty of space
in which to play and enjoy himself.
The boy doesn't notice the chains, however, but sings in what appears to him to be a life of eternal
freedom and happiness. But notice that the boy sings "like the sea". How does one sing "like
the sea"?
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- How could the boy be both "green" and "dying"? (4)
[Need help?]
Notice the apparent contradiction in the words "green" and "dying".
The boy is "green" in that he is young and brimming over with vitality, but at the same time he is
already "dying".
The poet reminds us here of the sharp reality of life -- as soon as you are born, you are dying. Death
comes more quickly for some than for others, but everyone is dying nevertheless even though they might
still appear to be young and green.
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GENERAL QUESTIONS:
The poet appears to suggest that Time both frees the boy and enslaves him. Explain this apparent
contradiction. (4)
[Need help?]
We have already spoken about this.
The moment one is born, one is dying. Time -- personified here as the Grim Reaper -- is allowing the
boy much room to play and have fun, but the boy is being gathered into the Grim Reaper's harvest
nevertheless.
The boy is the slave to Time although for the moment he believes he is free. The boy is still too young
and naive to know that he is enslaved to Time and that old age and death is already creeping up on him.
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Provide examples of how the boy lives his life rich in his imagination. (10)
[Need help?]
There are many examples of this.
- The boy is "honoured" by the foxes and pheasants.
- His "wishes raced", i.e. the boy lived his life in the vividness of his imagination.
- The boy "rides to sleep" and he can hear the moon rising over the fields.
Can you find any more examples? There are lots and lots in the poem.
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