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And you thought a nymph was a naturally lovely woodland creature. To be fair, so did we. But boy did Jonathan Swift prove us wrong.
"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...
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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
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