Fern Hill By Jacob Collins

709 Words3 Pages
Jacob Collins “Fern Hill” By Dylan Thomas Dylan Thomas’ “Fern Hill”, set on his aunt’s farm, is a well written, enjoyable text. Many images, symbols, and literary techniques increase the depth of the speaker's message to the reader. “Fern Hill” is a poem in which the speaker recalls his childhood and its inevitable end. The poet recreates and communicates the untroubled experience of his early years whilst in a state of blissful ignorance. Throughout the poem time is portrayed as an authority figure with strict control over his life, eventually revealing the inescapable realisation of his mortality. A significant feature throughout the poem is the use of colour imagery to add life to the characters and convey ideas which would otherwise be difficult to grasp. At the beginning of stanza 2 this technique is used as the speaker illustrates how, as a young boy, he was vivacious and full of life, he describes himself as being: “green and carefree” “Green” as a representation of youth and vibrancy, and carefree to reinforce his sense of freedom from responsibility. Although full of life like, “green grass”, the poem communicates that there is a natural course that life has to follow, from childhood to adulthood and eventually, death. The poet’s thoughts towards his “carefree” life take a dramatic turn in stanza 4 when he describes: “Fire green as grass” The combination of “Fire” and “grass” is a representation of something destructive which occurred that caused a change in his own world-view. This change had possibly altered the course of the speaker’s natural growth. By the time he had reached adulthood the poet had gained the knowledge that even from the days of his adolescence , he was destined to die: “time held me green and dying” His “green” life
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