Paya Dehghani ENG3U1 Mrs.

Power Fern Hill Dylan Thomas Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light. And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home, In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the Sabbath rang slowly In the pebbles of the holy streams. All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it wasair And playing, lovely and watery And fire green as grass. And nightly under the simple stars As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away, All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars Flying with the ricks, and the horses Flashing into the dark. And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sky gathered again And the sun grew round that very day. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable

On to the fields of praise. And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun born over and over, I ran my heedless ways, 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. Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand, In the moon that is always rising, Nor that riding to sleep I should hear him fly with the high fields And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land. 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.

"Fern Hill" is a poem about the realization of life and mortality that appears after an unexpected experience occurs. The speaker is Dylan Thomas that is looking back at his childhood and now that hes older he moved to a greater wisdom about himself and the world around him. The use of color, time, and religious language helps the reader to develop an understanding for the speaker's emotions, beliefs, and passage through life.

The main theme in the poem is childhoods end but it also consist of time, growth, nature, innocence and death.

Many color imageries are used during the poem, it starts as the speaker describes his happiness as a child at the beginning of the poem. He explains his young days being

as happy as the grass is green he uses the color green and grass because it refers to being healthy and alive, it also resembles how hes full of life and vibrant as a young boy. Thomas also used grass because its a nature course that life has to follow and the color green and the grass indicate life and their combination shows and reflects the fellow and pattern of everyones life from their birth to death. Any living thing has a purpose in life and the speaker describes his young days as a "Huntsman and Herdsman"

The speaker describes himself as a wanderer white after he grew up and gained more knowledge about life or after the birth of the simple light. Tells us that each morning was like the first morning of Creation. The color white is showing his purity and innocence. Thomas by wanderer means roaming or delirious wanderer and white together gives the idea of confusion about growing up so hes expressing the fact that he was confused about growing up and maturing. He no longer sees himself as a child and hes a grownup now, but he (the speaker) looks back at his lamb white days (again the idea of purity). The lamb was an animal of purity used for sacrifices to god in biblical terms. The speaker was just an innocent white lamb graciously following his shepherd (God) to his own sacrifice (death). So hes expressing morality of life.

The combination of the colors green and golden develops the fact that when youre a child youre young and fresh and bright and precious. Also the speaker picks the color golden and uses it in terms of time and compares their values, value of time to the value of gold. TimeGolden in the mercy of his means and GoldenTime let me play. Now that hes older he is realizing the value of time. We can see and hear through

his words and the way he speaks (his tone and his voice) that he wishes he had cherished time as he cherishes it now. In the second last verse of the poem he uses the golden again but in a past tense. Beforegolden He is no longer a child anymore and as an adult he is no longer as powerful and fresh (green) as he was as a child. Time has forever taken him away from his childless land and now hes far away because hes not a child anymore.

Time is personified in the poem. The poet asserts that time welcomed him to the heydays of his eyes and helped him climb and progress in its vision and also points the insignificance of time at that juncture. Time isnt only seen as golden and valuable in the poem its also looked as a concrete figure. The speaker characterizes and shows time as a father figure that Time allows him to play and be young. Time let me hail and climb, Time let me play and be so hes asking for permission from time. He indicates time with an adult who is supervising and growing him and who has strict control over his life. As a child, he didnt have to worry about timed also he mentions that time was once on his side And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves A time and place in which he felt princely and lordly and as though things were there to serve and please him. The phrase exemplifies the poets typical distortion of syntax for poetic effect. He is sad because time took him away from his carefree childless land. Also he is not so happy that time allowed him to play and be free. Throughout his life "Time held him green and dying. He realizes that the days are passing by and the sun rises over the east and his green life will run out of time (end) someday and die, as the green grass dies. So hes connecting nature and morality of life together.

The speaker uses religious language and biblical allusions and imagery to reflect and show his faith and what he believes in terms of morality of life and death. At the end of the first verse of the poem he describes himself as a The Sabbath rang slowly in the pebbles of the holy stream. He believes hes a small part in the large eternal stream of a childs life. (Keep in mind that the Sabbath is a day of rest from labor, and the speaker or Thomas uses it to indicate a seemingly everlasting tranquility that seems a part of eternity.) Also the holy stream is showing the innocence and holiness of a child and how childhood is holy and without sins. Another biblical allusion is when the speaker encounters his turning point. He compares himself and his actions to the biblical figures Adam and Even. In the bible, these were the first two people who acquired knowledge by eating a forbidden fruit. Life changing events would alter a child's perspective of himself. Thomas uses words that we understand very clearly, when he says all the sun long he means all daylong, in here the sun encounters with time that seems ever fresh, mortal, unending and un-aging. After that he says the sun born over and over he is referring to the actual individual days of his childhood that every day sun goes down at night and it rises again in the morning, Also he relates the sun to his entire childhood period as it ends at a certain time and it only happens once and it will be gone forever the sun that is young once only The sun also represents the brightness and precious of childhood and a child. Thomas shows the joy and freshness of a child again It was running, it was lovelyit was air and playing, evoking the great energy and joy of childhood and again there is the sense of holiness, when blessed among stables so he is developing the theme by using religious language.

A dramatic moment takes place when he describes fire as green as grass. Fire or burning symbolizes destroying and dying but green grass symbolizes living and life so the connection between fire and green grass means that something destructive has occurred in the speakers young life that has changed or altered the course of his natural growth. Hes an adult now and hes looking back and saying before the children green that means he is no longer a child anymore and he had gained an understanding that his life is running out and says time held me green and dying. He is seeing his Green life turning brown and wilting or in other words he is staring in the face of mortality.

Form of the poem: The poem consists of six verse paragraphs with nine lines each.

Rhetoric and Vocabulary: Repetition is an important rhetorical device in the poem, Certain words (and forms of a word) are repeated in the poem. Heres a list and the number that they were used: Green, is repeated seven times Time is repeated seven times also Golden, found four times Sun, four times House four times

Young and happy three times Easy, Lovely, Honoured, Light, Moon and White twice Alliteration: And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land, repetition of the F sound. Some of the important words that were used to emphasize the theme and help the reader to understand the poem are as following: Grass was Green/ Green, Carefree: Grass (symbol of life and nature) green (the color of freshness, youth and growth) and carefree means easy and without worries Young, Easy: Is indicating the time of the speakers life that he was young and, easy is emphasizing that a childs life is carefree and also is showing the freshness of childhood. Green and Golden: The idea of being young, fresh, bright and precious White: Purity, clean and clear Adam Sabbath, Holy stream: The speaker used religious language to show his ideas and theme of childhoods end through religion and helps the reader to have a better understanding.

If we look closer to the words that are used in the poem we see words related in meaning for example Light, Sun, Shining, Golden, and Morning. If we even look closer and focus we see a repetitive harmony of words indicating similar understanding, Horning, Birth/Born, Adam and Maid, Young And we find groups such as Honoured,, Lordly, Prince, Famous and Praise

Childhoods End Pink Floyd

You shout in your sleep Perhaps the price was just too steep Is your conscience at rest If once put to the test You awake with a start To just the beating of your heart Just one man beneath the sky Just two ears just two eyes You set sail across the sea Of long past thoughts and memories Childhood's end your fantasies Merge with harsh realities And then as the sail is hoist You find your eyes are growing moist And all the fears never voiced Say you have to make the final choice Who are you and who am I To say we know the reason why Some are born some men die Beneath one infinite sky There'll be war and there'll be peace But everything one day will cease All the iron turned to rust All the proud men turned to dust So all things time will mend So this song will end.