Fern Hill Analysis

Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay

Form and Meter

Red Alert! We're about to use a lot of numbers. But this is part of what makes Dylan Thomas such a rock star. It's like he's riffing perfectly matched bars of music over and over again with his pen...

Speaker

The speaker of "Fern Hill" reminisces about days he spent on a farm when he was young. He's older now, although it's not clear exactly how old, and spends the whole poem talking about himself when...

Setting

Setting is everything for the speaker of "Fern Hill." The pastoral beauty of the countryside around the farm where he spent his childhood preoccupies the entire poem. That means that our oh so nost...

Sound Check

"Fern Hill" is one-part sophisticated hip-hop artist, romancing about the hood where he came from, and one-part forlorn monologue of someone who can't let go of the past. Just like freestyle rapper...

What's Up With the Title?

Fern Hill is the name of the farm where Dylan Thomas spent his childhood summers in Wales. It also just so happens to be the setting of his poem. Exciting, right? C'mon, imagine your parents walkin...

Calling Card

Dylan Thomas' writing style was a bit out of fashion for his time. Modernism was the in thing back then, and people tended to chuck traditional forms and beautiful language in favor of wacky lines...

Tough-o-Meter

Dylan Thomas' "Fern Hill" has a lot going on sound-wise, plus it tackles some Big Ideas. Add to that that slippery syntax, and it's clear that this poem is definitely not idle chit chat. Still, aft...

Trivia

Next time you're in New York, you can go on the Dylan Thomas Walking Tour around Greenwich Village. Sure, the guy was Welsh, but he spent a big chunk of his life in the Big Apple, and even died the...

Steaminess Rating

This poem is straight-up G-rated.