ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
British Literature Videos 176 videos
Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...
Written in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, Beowulf is an epic poem that reflects the early medieval warri...
Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...
Fern Hill 2285 Views
Share It!
Description:
"Nothing cared I that time would take me": the famous words of Dylan Thomas in his poem "Fern Hill." In this poem, the speaker fights age and aims for eternal youth. We all know that never ends well.
Transcript
- 00:04
Fern Hill, a la Shmoop: The Green, Green Grass of Home.
- 00:12
Remember that trip to Disney World you took when you were two?
- 00:16
Of course not. . .you were two. But we bet there’s someone. . .
- 00:19
. . . who remembers enough for both of you.
- 00:22
In fact, some people get a little crazy about the
Full Transcript
- 00:26
past. . .
- 00:28
. . .like the speaker in Dylan Thomas’ poem, Fern Hill.
- 00:34
For six stanzas. . .
- 00:34
. . .he goes on and on about how great the place was.
- 00:40
Is he just missing a simpler time. . .
- 00:44
. . .when he didn’t have responsibilities?
- 00:47
C’mon. . .who doesn’t? Being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked
- 00:50
up to be. . .
- 00:51
And hanging out in nature all day. . .
- 00:53
. . .sure beats working for a living.
- 00:57
Or maybe he’s just ticked off that his youth is
- 00:59
over. . .
- 01:01
. . .and that it ended without ever being appreciated.
- 01:10
He does say things like “time let me play. . .
- 01:14
. . .and “nothing cared I that time would take me”
- 01:19
But maybe that’s not it either.
- 01:22
Maybe what he’s really nostalgic about. . .
- 01:23
. . .is Fern Hill itself. He mentions how green and beautiful the place
- 01:28
is like a hundred times. . .
- 01:30
. . .so maybe he’s just homesick. And being homesick can motivate anyone to
- 01:35
dwell on the past. So why is the speaker of Thomas’ poem. . .
- 01:39
. . .going gaga about his past? Is he envious of the carefree life he left
- 01:46
behind. . .
- 01:48
. . . is he a guy mourning the loss of his youth. . .
- 01:51
. . .or is he a native son missing the beauty of his childhood home?
- 01:56
Shmoop amongst yourselves
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
