Dylan Thomas - Fern Hill
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Dylan Thomas - Fern Hill
Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
In the sun that is young once only,
Time let me play and be
Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.
All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
And playing, lovely and watery
And fire green as grass.
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark.
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
In the sun born over and over,
I ran my heedless ways,
My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.
Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
In the moon that is always rising,
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
"And the Sabbath rang slowly in the pebbles of the holy streams." That is incredibly beautiful.
My most favourite poem as I sit aged 68 ....sadly I never found my Fern Hill ...but listening to Dylan Thomas recite...I go to his .
"In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace."
Goosebumps.
This piece demands your attention. Only Dylan could read it as it was meant to be read and it is one of my favourites.
Yvonne Hughes Fern Hill is one of the loveliest of all poems ever and probably the greatest and loveliest on the theme of childhood, and childhood lost. Thomas is the most musical of poets, having a unique ability to make his words chime together. Sadly, for all this, and it IS his poem, his reading does not do the work justice; his voice is not nuanced or flexible enough. His tone is incantatory which does not show the loveliness to the full.
I guess you could read it better, oh dear.
Well, you can't be sure, can you? Michael used the words 'flexible', 'nuanced' and 'incantatory', which signals to be that he has a brain and has given his critique some thought, unlike your shallow opinions.
@@michaelgoodson9989 I agree that he doesn’t quite do his own poem justice. I like how I do it better😁 though I doubt anyone else would agree, and that’s OK, I only do it for myself anyway. He did have a grand way of reading his poetry. I do like his Christmas in Wales recitation.
How a poem ought to be read and this poem deserves a great reading
Childhood as was. So beautiful, so evocative but so remote.
I love the closing lines of the poem.
"Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means.
Time held me green and dying.
Though I sang in my chains like the sea."
As a child you may be restricted by adult authority, but in many ways you are never more free, That is freedom from care and responsibility.
I love how Dylan writes often in his poems about childhood.
Like in his "Poem on my birthday"
William Heywood Thomas was most prolific at an early age, so of course much of his verse harkens back to his childhood. In later years he was too blotto to
recall his younger self. Dead at 39, of course.
I used to listen to a cassette of him reading this and other poems while walking to my High School; I graduated in 2006, and it was the perfect holy counterpart to everything I was facing down at that time.
the first time I came across this poem at the university in the late 70s I fell in love with it .
See how the mood changes from beginning to end ;
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
I remember learning this poem when I was at school in Wales. Listening to it now touches me in such a different way - filling me with longing for home and lost youth. It is beautiful and what an amazing voice he has..
Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Christian Bale, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Milland, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rhys Ifans, Glynis Johns, Dawn French were all from Wales.
There are many others, most with wonderful voices.
thank you so much! it is so powerful to hear the poet read his own poem.
I am so incredibly in love with this poem you guys dont understand omg
This poem is the sole purpose i am living right now
It sets my soul free
May I suggest you read Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee.
Regards
This is the most intelligent thing I've read in years.
ouch
oh by coincidence that is the book by my bed and I intend to visit Lee's village tomorrow.
No I think us 'Guys' do!
Love his voice and poetry.
I could listen to him all day long, a rich & eloquent voice. Thank you for posting.
I learned this poem at the beginning of my first year English class in 1952, and I have never been the same
since. I frequently still recite it starting with "Little I cared in the lamb white days", and it never ceases to reboot
me for the day. And now they don't want to even teach poetry and Shakespeare any more. Cra cra!
his reading is superb and i love all the alliteration.
Speechless and quiet human here...Cloaked and nurtured in Mr. Dylan Thomas' wafting words, in that strong and booming voice.
I learned this poem by heart and recited it out loud over and over. It brings tears to my eyes. It has so many images that bring up the wonders of childhood in the country. For the duration of the this poem that bliss that only the young feel is briefly remembered. I love his use of words in both meaning and sound in this utterly perfect poem.
Sidilicious he used words solely for their sound in all of his poems. He was Welsh, after all.
I remember I did that as well back when I first discovered him. I learned Fern Hill and Lament by heart and would recite them out loud quite often.
@@Redhairedviking09 his use of words make reciting his poems out loud so sensual and satisfying.
@@nickagriesti6708He strings sounds together so well!
@@Redhairedviking09 have you tried Dir Johns Hill out loud? It’s wonderful to recite.
Great---he weaves a spell with his words and his voice
Brings tears to my eyes, makes me want to stop my day and write
This has always been my favorite Dylan Thomas poem.
Love his recitals so much... nobody like him.
My favorite poem...reminds me of my rural youth. Ingenious word crafting!!
Thomas has the most beautiful voice, and when paired with this gorgeous poem, I feel like I've found heaven on earth. ;)
I am classically trained in music, I perceive a great musicality to this poem. I would compose music for it, an ode to the child inside all human beings, an inner child he so wonderfully acknowledged.
This poem delights. I am delighted.
"Time held me green and dying"
wonderful in the full sense of that word.
Cool! A great poem! In 2008 we have founded a band called Tunes From The Chimneys... ;-)
He's a rock star
I must have been 16 when I first read this. My school's idea of poetry was Tennyson and Browning - "Then, owls and bats, cowls and twats..." - yes, that Browning. To say Fern Hill blew my mind is an understatement. I was drunk on Thomas for days - I simply had no idea and no warning that words could be so beautiful - so utterly intoxicating.
Listening to it now after many years I am again transfixed by its magic as if for the first time. The fact is once you read this magnificent poem it never leaves you.
This is his masterpiece.
We are fortunate to have a recording of such brilliant poet reading his work in his own voice, and in his own cadences.
Mr. Thomas sounds almost as though he's singing, so lyric are his words.
being foreigner the impresison is even stronger because the sound of the words overcomes their meaning.
Always loved this poem. I can recite it - I learned it some years ago. It is so poignant and so redolent of the vivid joys of childhood. It is so full of colour yet mortality encroaches with its steady tread - ' time held me green and dying...'
like litte church bells calling the congregation to come the sabbath. I agree! it is a spectacular image.
Extraordinary, utterly beautiful. It never fails to move me deeply.
Listen just to 'Now as I was young and...', the first six words of the poem - it sounds like he is beginning a song!
The lost world of our hearts, at the time of the first birth which we have lost. And where do you hear nightjars in Britain these days and when was anyone last in a swallow thronged loft? From my childhood I remember both. The poem seems more poignant as the experience acquires a geenral cultural note in the modern world whereas as it was written it was surely only a personal experience . No place for nightjars in modern Britain. This is nostalgia as religion and as such is perfect.
Evocative of my childhood yearnings and sweet naiveté. Peter Pan was right and Dylan Thomas sublime.
went his grave in Laugherne.. a hero~~
1 person wants to be a child forever
I got the caedmon collection for christmas, best present ever
Most excellent. Many thanks
So Profoundly beautiful,,, such Genius,,, thank you for posting!!!
It is indeed the man himself reading the poem.
This is my favorite Dylan Thomas poem. Now you know where Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) got his stage name but you should have known that by now.
Absolutely brilliant.
Listened together with the poet Dr Craig Powell who explained the words. Lovely, lovely poem.
What a great piece and presentation. Thanks!
Wonderful! Many thanks for this...
I needed this today. Thanks.
It is not unrelated to the spirit of Rimbaud ! and it is as beautiful too
LOVE THIS
Thank you for posting.
excellent
It's also one of my favourite poems. This is my favourite recitation. Richard Burtons is great too. Do yourself a favour and learn it yourself so you can "listen" to it any time.
Sublime.
HEY I KNOW THIS GUY! HE'S THE LEAD SINGER OF THE DOORS!
31-03-2018- (words whispered beneath “Sweet Caroline” at Clinton’s dance hall): “i remained, i never left, i stayed i stayed i stayed, i’m here i’m here, i never left.”
master of the english tongue
He sounds like he could be a good singer
@yippitydodah You are right! Ending a poem with the word sea is liberating. It could have been "sang in my chains like the furniture!
I sang in my chains like the sea.
God couldn't have done better...
Impressive that the man himself reads with more drama than any of the actors I've heard recite this.
many argue he would of made a great actor if he hadn't fallen into alcoholism
Adam Graf Many "great actors" were alcoholic. Dylan was a magnificent actor. The
role he played always and best was himself.
did you ever see him ?
limptastic genesis He didn't have the looks to be an actor.
.... nah he didn't. But sometimes all it requires a profound personality, which he most definitely had in spades.
This is the saddest poem I know of. (Admittedly, I don't even understand most poetry.) Richard Dawkins was right when he said it is "achingly evocative of lost youth."
Dylan.
For those who possess no receptive heart for the lilting cadences of Thomas' words: you know nothing of poetry, far less that which is infused with a Celtic-inspired sense of the power and magic of the spoken word. Try listening to the late Sorley Maclean reciting his seminal work "Hallaig" in its original Scottish Gaelic. Is truagh an t-uallach an t-aineolas...
Is thls read by Dylan Thomas?
Lovely ... I do like Richard Burton' interpretation tho
Sky blu.
And nothing I cared at my sky blue trades, that time allows...until school dragged me kicking and protesting at their grim gates, into the grey yard of misery.
I think, at his prime, he was the consummate poet- and
no one read his own poetry better than Dylan Thomas
And his early death meant that he never left his prime. The only upside of dying young.
Sir please explain in hindi please
Go away and take your doggrel with you.
The poem is great. The reading is pompous, awkward and to use a 50's word, 'uncool'.
you're an ignoramus.
Are you sure? Is the poem not great then? Is that the problem?
Honestly, do you believe that plum mouthed moaning is good reading? It's painful. No wonder the poor bugger died young.
Listen Richard Burtons rendition of it if you don't like Dylan's.
This poem is SHIT!!!
I am NOT a Poet!!!
I like proper poetry I can understand like Thomas Shadwell and William McGonagall!!!
I can't stand Wilfred Owen, Ted Hughes or Sylvia Plath ether!!!