Themes and Styles of Dylan Thomas Poems Dylan Thomas is a Welsh poet and prose writer (“Dylan Thomas” 20). He is most known for his poems “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” and “Fern Hill.” He published his book Collected Poems in 1952 (“Dylan Thomas” 23). It shows a deeper insight and craftsmanship of his writing (“Dylan Thomas” 23). The book was a success on both sides of the Atlantic (“Dylan Thomas” 24). His work is most known for its comic exuberance, rhapsodic lilt, and pathos (“Dylan Thomas” 20). Most of his poems are based on childhood experiences, nature, religion, and the cycle of life (“Dylan Thomas” 22). Thomas writes in a mature style and technical delayment is the core of his formal method (Muldoon xiv-xv). His poems allow
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The poem describes his joy during the holidays. The three themes of this poem are nature, freedom, and impermanence (“Fern Hill” 95). The childhood described in the poem is spent among trees, streams, hay fields, and animals. The poem suggests that children would be happier if left alone by adults and society (“Fern Hill” 95). Thomas uses personification to give human motives to objects and animals. Nature is compared to the paradise of the Book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden, and Creation (“Fern Hill”). Nature symbolizes a passing stage of inner peace (“Fern Hill” 95). In “Fern Hill”, childhood freedom is associated with power. The child in the poem moves about his surroundings without rules and limitations. The poem equates time and aging as chains that imprison us (‘Fern Hill” 95). The boy and the adult narrator live in the same world, but with different perspectives (“Fern Hill” 96). In “Fern Hill’, freedom is dependent on perspective, but the loss of freedom is inevitable (“Fern Hill” 96). The boy in “Fern Hill” is not aware of the time, but the narrator draws attention to time’s passing: “Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs” (“Fern Hill 96; Thomas 170). Four and a half of the poem’s stanzas talk about the experiences, sensations, and sights of the narrator’s childhood. Statements in the past tense show that the circumstances are no longer true: “I was prince of the apple towns” (“Fern Hill” 96; Thomas 170). The poem changes to present tense in line
The poem describes his joy during the holidays. The three themes of this poem are nature, freedom, and impermanence (“Fern Hill” 95). The childhood described in the poem is spent among trees, streams, hay fields, and animals. The poem suggests that children would be happier if left alone by adults and society (“Fern Hill” 95). Thomas uses personification to give human motives to objects and animals. Nature is compared to the paradise of the Book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden, and Creation (“Fern Hill”). Nature symbolizes a passing stage of inner peace (“Fern Hill” 95). In “Fern Hill”, childhood freedom is associated with power. The child in the poem moves about his surroundings without rules and limitations. The poem equates time and aging as chains that imprison us (‘Fern Hill” 95). The boy and the adult narrator live in the same world, but with different perspectives (“Fern Hill” 96). In “Fern Hill’, freedom is dependent on perspective, but the loss of freedom is inevitable (“Fern Hill” 96). The boy in “Fern Hill” is not aware of the time, but the narrator draws attention to time’s passing: “Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs” (“Fern Hill 96; Thomas 170). Four and a half of the poem’s stanzas talk about the experiences, sensations, and sights of the narrator’s childhood. Statements in the past tense show that the circumstances are no longer true: “I was prince of the apple towns” (“Fern Hill” 96; Thomas 170). The poem changes to present tense in line