Dagmara Durlak SM I

Dylan Thomas is one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 20th century whose poetry
still remains popular among contemporary readers (Nagaraju and Seshaiah 8). He was
particularly interested and inspired by the Romantic poetry which traces can be found in a
number of his best and most recognized works. Thomas’s peculiar style of writing has been
widely discussed by many critics (Nagaraju and Seshaiah 6). His poems abound in symbols
and images of nature expressing his attitude towards life, death and childhood. Dylan Thomas
in many respects breaks certain conventions concerning the traditional ways of writing poetry
and surprises readers using a revolutionary, frequently illogical, fractured syntax as well as
outstanding imagery that together with the musicality of his poems make him one of the most
regarded poets of the 20th century (Nagaraju and Seshaiah 9).

“Fern Hill” is one of the most recognized and widely appreciated poems by Dylan Thomas
in which he metaphorically returns to his childhood days to reflect upon the passage of time
and significance of life. The author recalls his happy days that he had spent in Fern Hill to
then realize that they are gone and will never come back (Tindall 269). “Fern Hill” is not
written in a traditional form. It comprises six stanzas that possess the same number of lines
(nine), but their length varies. However, the poem is not exactly the instance of free verse
because in each stanza there is the same pattern of syllables employed (Ackerman 131). The
poem has some structure, yet it does not have a clear rhyming scheme. It relies on internal and
half rhymes (e.g. spinning-whinnying), but it does not make use of more traditional and
regular full rhymes (Ackerman 131). There are many instances of assonance (e.g. among-
wagons), consonance (e.g. lovely-watery, back-cock) and alliteration that add to the
musicality and are crucial in evoking a pastoral mood that pervades the poem (Nagaraju and
Seshaiah 8). The poem is written in a simple past tense to stress that the speaker is
reminiscent of his old days he had spent in Fern Hill. “Fern Hill” is built on long, compound
sentences that are frequently bound together by means of a conjunction “and”. According to
Tindall (187) “and” is the dominant syntactic element used in the poem. The shape of “Fern
Hill” is also very peculiar (some lines are shorter and indented).

The first stanza of the poem begins with an expression that resembles a storyteller’s phrase
(e.g. “Now as I was young”) indicating the past tense that will be used throughout the whole
poem. The speaker is an adult talking about his past experiences and reminiscing of his old
summer days spent in Fern Hill (Tindall 269). The stanza is full of vivid, pastoral imagery

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that shows how happy the lyrical ego was once. In each stanza of the poem the author
consistently employs enjambments, which is visible, for instance in the opening line. “Lilting
house” in the following line is an instance of personification where the adjective “lilting”
alludes to Gaelic singing, depicting the house from the author’s childhood as having the
ability to sing (Tindall 269). Then, the speaker immediately compares his happiness to the
greenness of the grass. From the point of view of the structure, the third and the fourth line of
the first stanza differ from the previous ones (they are shorter and indented; the pattern that
will be repeated in the following stanzas). The author surprises readers by his unconventional
way of arranging words in sentences, which is visible, for instance, in line 3 (e.g. “The night
above the dingle starry”). In the subsequent line the author introduces the image of time
represented as the speaker’s companion followed by the body part synecdoche in line 6 in
which attention is being drawn to its eyes (Tindall 270). In this line we can also notice
alliteration of neighbouring sounds combined with the use of homoioteleuton where the
speaker repeats the same grammatical ending (the plural ending) for rhythmical effect (e.g.
“Golden in the heydays of his eyes”). Homoioteleuton is also employed frequently in other
stanzas (e.g. the ricks-the horses). The sixth line of the first stanza focuses more on the
speaker himself rather than the idyllic scenery surrounding him. He presents himself as a
“prince” (e.g. “[…] I was prince of the apple towns”). The metaphor employed here indicates
his happiness and innocence as a child who is full of energy, but also naïve. The next line
starts with a peculiar expression that resembles a fairy tale phrase, but with a slight
modification (e.g. “And once below a time”) (Tindall 269). Although the structure of the
poem is not in any way traditional, there are some instances of regularity. The lines discussed
above are examples of epanaphora since they start with the same conjunction “and”.
Moreover, in this part of the first stanza we can notice some instances of assonance that is
crucial in establishing rhythm (e.g. trees-leaves, daisies-barley) or consonance (e.g. rivers-
windfall).

The structure of the second stanza corresponds with the opening one, which again proves
that there is some regularity in the seemingly irregular poem. The introductory lines of the
first and second stanza are parallel to each other (e.g. “Now as I was young”- “And as I was
green and carefree”) (Tindall 269). The author continues speaking in the past tense to indicate
that he is no longer in that blissful state of mind he once was. Throughout the whole poem,
the speaker uses various colours metaphorically (green used in line 10 is the indication of his
childlike innocence and naivety). As in the first stanza, the second one also contains many

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instances of personification. Human feelings are in this case attributed to the yard that is able
to express happiness (e.g. “About the happy yard […]”). The speaker personifies inanimate
objects to reflect his childlike perception of the world. The farm is metaphorically presented
as home, which shows how sentimental the speaker is about the past and the place he once
spent his childhood in (Tindall 270). The author plays with the words and their arrangement
within the lines. Throughout the whole poem, he overuses a conjunction “and”, which is an
instance of polysyndeton, to build a characteristic dream-like atmosphere (Tindall 187).
Another inanimate object that is being personified in this stanza is the sun that resembles
human beings who also age and cannot preserve their youthfulness (e.g. “In the sun that is
young once only”) (line 12). The author is particularly concerned about the passage of time
and the way it changes human beings, thus the metaphor discussed above should rather be
seen as an instance of personification than animization. Line 13 is the continuation of the
description of personified time that acts as a close friend and lets the lyrical ego enjoy the
beauty of life. Time is one of the key images used by the author in this poem (e.g. “Time let
me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means”) (Tindall 270). The musical quality of
“Fern Hill” is enhanced by the use of alliteration in the line discussed above (e.g. mercy-
means). The golden colour mentioned in line 14 represents his happiness and blissfulness of
his mind as a child. Lines 15 and 16 contain many instances of alliteration that compensate for
the lack of regular end rhymes (e.g. green-golden, huntsman-herdsman, clear-cold). There are
also many examples of assonance and consonance (e.g. sun-young or farm-home). In the last
two lines of the second stanza the speaker draws upon religious imagery that together with a
very romantic and idyllic landscape presented in this part create an exceptional image of the
place from the speaker’s childhood. Streams are personified and presented as sacred (e.g. “In
the pebbles of the holy streams”) (Tindall 270). Although its seeming irregularity, the stanza
repeats the structure from the preceding one. Lines 13, 14 are similar to the corresponding
lines in the first stanza (e.g. “Time let me hail and climb”-“Time let me play and be”; “Golden
in the heyday of his eyes”-“Golden in the mercy of his means”) (Tindall 270). The overuse of
a conjunction “and” is again visible in this part which makes it, according to Tindall, the most
characteristic syntactic element used in the poem (187). As one can notice, lines 11 and 15
also begin with the same elements used in corresponding lines from the first stanza.

In the third stanza the author continues to surprise readers by his unconventional way of
arranging words in sentences. He repeats a phrase “it was” to add a rhythmical quality to the
poem. The simile used in line 20 (e.g. “Fields high as the house”) stresses the beauty and

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perfection of the nature from his childhood days. The previously mentioned simile is
immediately followed and combined with a metaphor (e.g. “the tunes from the chimneys”). In
this stanza the author again breaks sentences and uses enjambments. Lines 21, 22, 23 begin
with a frequently employed conjunction “and”. They all are instances of epanaphora that also
builds the structure of the poem. The musicality is maintained by the frequent use of
alliteration (e.g. green-grass, simple-stars) as well as consonance (lovely, watery, nightly).
The adjectives mentioned above can also be classified as instances of homoioteleuton since
they all exhibit the use of the same grammatical ending that also gives the effect of rhyming.
The author continues to metaphorise his childhood landscape. The simile (e.g. “And fire green
as grass”) is the symbol of his vitality and health once he was a child. Line 24 begins with a
construction which parallels the previous sentences used in the first and second stanza
(e.g. “As I rode to sleep”). The day comes to an end and the speaker notices the change in the
landscape. The owls leave the farm as if the whole landscape was going away. The author
again surprises in terms of the way he handles syntax. The next line begins with “All the
moon long I heard”, which is not an instance of a canonical word order. The subject of the
clause appears further in the sentence to give way to the moon that is fronted in that case. In
line 26 the author attributes animate features to ricks (stocks of hay) which are able to fly and
leave with the birds. The whole landscape seems to depart as the day finishes (Tindall 270-
271). The day described in the three consecutive stanzas is symbolic and stands in opposition
to night that changes not only the nature around, but also the speaker’s feelings. The contrast
between night and day reflects the speaker’s transition from the innocent child into the
experienced man and is also the indication of the passage of time (Tindall 271). In this stanza
we can also notice the use of alliteration that adds to the musicality of the poem (e.g. flying-
flashing).

In the fourth stanza the speaker awakes and again begins to praise the beauty of nature. He
uses a vivid simile comparing his farm to a white wanderer with the dew. The simile extends
over several lines and can also be classified as an instance of personification (extended
metaphor) where the farm is presented as a human being with a cock on his shoulder
(e.g. “[…] and the farm, like a wanderer white with the dew, come back, the cock on his
shoulder”) (Tindall 271). The author consistently makes use of alliteration (e.g. wanderer-
white) and run-on-lines that also serve as a characteristic feature of the poem. A very
powerful metaphor used in this stanza is the allusion to Adam and Eve and the Garden of
Eden (line 30) where the speaker compares the farm from his childhood days to a paradise

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from the Bible (Tindall 271). This metaphor is yet another way of representing the farm and
can be seen as the continuation of the metaphor discussed in the opening line. Despite the
shift in the use of imagery from that concentrated on nature to religious one, the structure does
not change much. The speaker still continues to overuse the conjunction “and” and repeats “it
was” to keep a certain rhythm and stress that he still talks about the past experiences. The
author continues to draw upon religious imagery employing metaphors that make the
landscape and farm itself seem more sacred and idealized. Lines 33-34 function as an
extended metaphor in which the speaker compares the beauty of the landscape to God’s
creation (e.g. “So it must have been after the birth of the simple light, In the first spinning
place, the spellbound horses walking warm”). The metaphor employed here can also serve as
an instance of hyperbole. For the speaker, the farm, the weakening of animals and nature
surrounding them is like an act of creation (Tindall 271). Green stables are presented as
whinnying horses, which as another animistic metaphor employed by the speaker (e.g. “Out
of the whinnying green stables”). The last line of the stanza is also built upon a metaphor
(e.g. “On to the fields of praise”). The whole landscape is worth praising and the speaker as a
young boy is mesmerized by its beauty. Alliteration again enhances the musicality of the
poem (e.g. spinning-spellbound).

The author is consistent in the way he structures the poem. The fifth stanza begins with the
conjunction “and” that mirrors the expression used in the sixth line of the first stanza
(e.g. “And honoured […]”) (Tindall 271). The author heavily relies on parallel constructions
that compensate for the irregularity of the meter and the peculiar arrangement of words in the
poem. He again ascribes human emotions to certain elements from his childhood. The house
in this stanza is not singing, but being happy (e.g. “And honoured among the foxes and
pheasants by the gay house”) (Tindall 271). Enjambments also continue to dominate the
structure of the stanza in which the speaker begins to reflect upon his carefree attitude towards
life he had as a child. Another animistic metaphor employed by the author is that of his
wishes having the ability to rush. Later in line 41 the initial sounds in the last words alliterate
that again creates a certain rhythm (e.g. house-high-hay). Line 42 again begins with the most
characteristic conjunction employed by the author, namely “and”. The word order is also
rearranged (e.g. “And nothing I cared”). The subject again is moved further along in the
sentence and the word “nothing” is fronted to underline the child’s blissful state of mind. The
image of personified time reappears in this stanza and extends over three subsequent lines
(e.g. “[…] time allows in all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs before the

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children green and golden follow him out of grace”) (Tindall 271). Time acts as a human
being plying a flute trying to enchant children whose emotions are again depicted by means of
colours (green and gold).

The last stanza also serves as an extended metaphor that again concentrates on the
depiction of personified time. The opening line (e.g. “Nothing I cared”) corresponds with line
42 from the preceding stanza. The word “nothing” is moved to the front of the sentence to
again emphasize that as a child the speaker was not conscious of the passage of time. Days in
the opening line are personified and depicted as “lamb” and “white”. Time acting as a human
being now takes the speaker to a loft filled with swallows. The metaphor “the shadow of my
hand” visible in line 47 stands in contrast to the preceding expression “the lamb white days”.
The mood in the last stanza differs from the playful tone of the previous ones, which is
highlighted by the use of alliteration in line 51 (e.g. farm-forever-fled) as well as the
exclamation “Oh” that introduces melancholy into the poem. The author again repeats the
same syntactic construction that now has a more pessimistic undertone (e.g. “as I was
young”). Line 53 contains a paradoxical statement (e.g. “Time held me green and dying”)
(Ackerman 143). It turns out that during his childhood, the speaker was both living and dying,
but he was not fully aware of that. The last line of the poem includes a very vivid image of the
speaker being in chains and compared to sea. For the first time, he uses a simile that is
unrelated to the landscape and farm, but water. It might underline his change in the way he, as
an adult person, perceives the world. The last line seems ambiguous since it is not certain
whether the sea only sings or maybe it sings in chains as the author does (Ackerman 7).

Dylan Thomas in his poem entitled “Fern Hill” returns to the place where he spent his
childhood to reflect upon some important existential questions about the significance and
transience of time. Despite the fact that the poem is not written in a traditional form, the
author is consistent in the choice of stylistic devices. He frequently employs metaphors and in
particular humanizing metaphors, enjambments, epanaphoric expressions, repetitions,
alliteration or similes. The key image evoked by the speaker is personified time that at the
outset acts as the author’s companion, but at the end becomes his enemy depriving him of his
youthfulness. Despite the fact that the structure of the poem seems irregular and chaotic, the
author adapts a certain pattern. There are many instances of parallel constructions and
repetitions of certain ideas (Ackerman 7). The poem, though not relying on a clear rhyming
pattern, is very rhythmical thanks to the frequent use of assonance, consonance and
alliteration.

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 “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas

1 Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs

2 About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,

3 The night above the dingle starry,

4 Time let me hail and climb

5 Golden in the heydays of his eyes,

6 And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns

7 And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves

8 Trail with daisies and barley

9 Down the rivers of the windfall light.

10 And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns

11 About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,

12 In the sun that is young once only,

13 Time let me play and be

14 Golden in the mercy of his means,

15 And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves

16 Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,

17 And the sabbath rang slowly

18 In the pebbles of the holy streams.

19 All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay

20 Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air

21 And playing, lovely and watery

22 And fire green as grass.

23 And nightly under the simple stars

24 As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,

25 All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars

26 Flying with the ricks, and the horses

27 Flashing into the dark.

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 28 And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white

29 With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all

30 Shining, it was Adam and maiden,

31 The sky gathered again

32 And the sun grew round that very day.

33 So it must have been after the birth of the simple light

34 In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm

35 Out of the whinnying green stable

36 On to the fields of praise.

37 And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house

38 Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,

39 In the sun born over and over,

40 I ran my heedless ways,

41 My wishes raced through the house high hay

42 And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows

43 In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs

44 Before the children green and golden

45 Follow him out of grace,

46 Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me

47 Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,

48 In the moon that is always rising,

49 Nor that riding to sleep

50 I should hear him fly with the high fields

51 And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.

52 Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,

53 Time held me green and dying

54 Though I sang in my chains like the sea

Source: Jones, Daniel. The Poems of Dylan Thomas. New Directions Publishing, 2003.

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 Works Cited

Ackerman, John. Dylan Thomas: His Life and Work. 3rd ed., Macmillian, 1996,
https://books.google.pl/books?id=-
BG_DAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=pl&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#
v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed 29 January 2018.

Jones, Daniel. The Poems of Dylan Thomas. New Directions Publishing, 2003,
https://books.google.pl/books?id=yRo5-
mx8ZPYC&printsec=frontcover&vq=fern+hill&hl=pl&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&c
ad=0#v=onepage&q=fern%20hill&f=false. Accessed 29 January 2018.

Nagaraju, Ch., and Seshaiah. “A study of Dylan Thomas’s poetry.” Journal of Humanities
and Social Science, vol. 1, no. 2, 2012, pp. 6-10, http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-
jhss/papers/vol1-issue2/B0120610.pdf?id=5595. Accessed 29 January 2018.

Tindall, William Y. A Readers’ Guide to Dylan Thomas. Syracuse University Press, 1996,
https://books.google.pl/books?id=EVIGMyDkaNQC&printsec=frontcover&vq=fern+
hill&hl=pl&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=fern%20hill&f=false.
Accessed 29 January 2018.