We tend to view the world differently as children than we do as adults. Children tend to see the world in a more positive light than adults. Thomas portrays a child exploring the natural world on a family farm. The child is happy and innocent. He was a child with naivety about life. His first adult experience shattered his innocence. In order to avoid losing his childhood, he wished to remain in his small paradise. However, adulthood was inevitable. Thomas mourns his lost innocence and childhood. Dylan Thomas’ poem “Fernhill”, which highlights the transition between childhood and adulthood, is written through a physiological perspective.
Dylan begins his poem “Fern Hill”, a piece that reflects on the childhood memories he had of spending holidays at his mother’s home in the country. When he writes “Now when I was young, easy and under the apples boughs/About that lilting farm and happy because the grass is green/Then the night above the dingle stars …”. The apple trees, the green grass and the starry skies convey the innocence of a child’s life. He felt like a prince as he walked through the wilderness. The fear of growing older made this moment only last “once”. In the end, a carefree child’s life leads to regret.
Dylan reflects on his past childhood when he’s an adult. Dylan uses the past perfect tense in this instance, giving the impression to the reader that Thomas looks back now as an adult at his own childhood. His poem uses words like “I was” or “had” as well as other past tense to show that the time he spent on “Fernhill” has passed. Thomas reveals his regrets of childhood carelessness when he writes, “nothing i cared”. At the end of the poem, Thomas repeats “nothing that I cared”, showing his regrets for being careless in his youth.
