Poetic Analysis of Fern Hill Essay -- Poetry Essays Poem Fern Hill

Poetic Analysis Fern Hill Dylan Thomass poem Fern Hill represents the passage of one mans look from boyhood to adulthood and the realization of his mortality. The vocalizer in this poem uses expressive language and imagery to depict a tale of growing up. The use of colour adds life and character to people and creep ideas. He looks up to Time (313) as an authority figure who has strict control of his life, and with descriptions of biblical figures we can presume that he is a religious individual who believes that God is in control of his destiny. Each of these images contributes to a picture of one mans outlook on life and death. Colour imagery is used in the etymon of the poem as the speaker describes his happiness as a child. He explains his young days as being as happy as the bewray is green (313), or in other words, alive and healthy. He then directly refers himself to being green and carefree (313). As a young boy he was vibrant and full of life. Being full of life, like green grass (313), means that there is a natural course that life has to follow, acquit to death. Anything living has a purpose in life and the speaker reflects his young days as a Huntsman and Herdsman (313). The poem takes a hammy turn when he describes fire as green as grass (313). Fire or burning paired with grass means that something destructive has occurred in the speakers young life that has changed or bowdlerizeed the course of his natural growth. He is an adult when he looks back and says before the children green (314). He had gained an understanding that his life is running out and says time held me green and dying (313). He is seeing his green (314) life turning brown and wilting. He i... ...ruit. Life changing events would alter a childs perspective of himself. Fern Hill is a poem about the realization of life and mortality that appears after an unexpected experience occurs. The speaker is moved to a greater wisdom about himself and th e world around him. He realizes that the immortality he felt as a child was merely a step towards the heady movement of life towards death. Through the use of colour, time, and religious language readers develop an understanding for the speakers emotions, beliefs, and passage through life. WORKS CITEDOrser, Sandi. ENGL 1155 (01) Introduction to Literature Gender and Form. MSVU. January 2005.Thomas, Dylan. Fern Hill. The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Ed. Jon C. Stott, Raymond E. Jones, and heap Bower. 3rd ed. Toronto Nelson-Thomson, 2002. 313-314