Cristine Rodriguez

Mr. Munoz
English IV, Per. 4
25 September 2014
Fern Hill Analysis
Fern Hill is a poem in which Dylan Thomas describes the process of life and how his
feelings changed from careless to depressed during this process. Throughout the poem, there are
several pieces of evidence that supports this change in emotion. Thomas uses nature imagery to
portray the seasons of the year, which symbolize the different parts of his life. This is how he
structured his poem, by using the seasons for comparison and by using alternating lengths of
lines in his stanzas. One of the most apparent themes in the poem is death, and how his feelings
change about it from childhood to adulthood.
The first two stanzas of the poem are mainly about the authors childhood. Throughout
these two stanzas, there is a lot of nature imagery. This may be to emphasize the fact that he is
describing the season of spring, representing his childhood. The mood he sets in this part of the
poem is carefree and happiness. This is obvious because he states, Now as I was young and
easy under the apple boughs (Line 1). It is in these stanzas that he first establishes his feelings
about death. Since he is young, he does not have any fear towards death. In line 13, Thomas
says, Time let me play and be. He is so brave towards death that he feels he can play with
time. The author is also viewing time as a higher power in the next line of the poem, Golden in
the mercy of his means (Line 14). This shows that he feels that time is the only thing that will
change his feelings about death.
In the third and fourth stanzas, the author continues to speak about his childhood. He

keeps the carefreeness mood, as well as innocence. In line 22, he uses the color green to
describe the scene by saying, And fire green as grass. Green could be used to represent youth,
and by comparing it with fire he is saying that is youth is almost over. He includes some
religious symbolism in these two stanzas as evidence of innocence. In line 30, he says, Shining,
it was Adam and maiden. He feels innocent like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. In
this situation, time would be his temptation towards death, rather than the snake who tempted
Eve. The author is starting to feel slightly stronger about death, since he is getting older.
However, he is not fearful yet.
The last two stanzas are about the author finally coming to terms with death and the fact
that it is near. He may be feeling fearful now that he is old enough to understand death is
coming. The setting of these stanzas are in the seasons of fall and winter, representing the fact
that he has reached adulthood. The comparison of how the author felt about death in the
beginning of the poem and the end of the poem is very visible in the fifth and sixth stanza. In
lines 49 and 50, the author says, Before the children green and golden follow him out of grace,
which shows that the feeling of innocence is gone. The feeling of carelessness is also gone with
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means (Line 57). He is referring to time as a
higher power once again, and this time in a dark way. At the end of the last stanza, he finally
brings up dying, Time held me green and dying (Line 58). This how the author wanted to end
the poem, with death.
Dylan Thomas keeps the theme of death throughout Fern Hill. The change in tone from
the first stanza to the last stanza is completely apparent. The poem begins as a happy and
carefree flashback to the authors childhood, but ends with a dark and depressing mood

representing death. One of Thomas goal for the poem may have been to portray an evolution of
feelings throughout his life.