Fern Hill Characters

The central character of the poem, the poet looks back on his childhood memories with a sense of joy and longing. As a child he was 'green and golden', innocent and free, but as an adult he recognises the irreversible loss of that dreamlike innocence. His character symbolizes the universal human experience of joy, change, and the inevitability of death coexisting together.

Time is portrayed as the most powerful symbolic character in the poem. It begins as a benevolent companion, allowing the child to play and live freely, but gradually reveals itself as a destructive force that strips away childhood and innocence. In the poem's final lines, Time is shown as both the granter of youth and the bringer of death, holding the poet 'green and dying'.

Nature functions as a silent but living presence throughout the poem, encompassing trees, rivers, the sun, moon, animals, and farm fields. It serves as both friend and teacher to the young poet, representing joy, freedom, and the eternal renewal of life. Through his relationship with nature, the poet experiences a profound sense of spiritual unity and harmony with the world.

The childhood self of the poet, this character is innocent, carefree, and wholly immersed in the happiness of the natural world. He is described as the 'prince of the apple towns' and a 'huntsman and herdsman', a free ruler within the kingdom of nature. With the passage of time, this child self disappears entirely, surviving only as a cherished memory in the adult poet's mind.

Though not a person, the farm operates as a significant character in the poem, serving as the poet's childhood paradise where he once lived in harmony with nature. As the poem progresses, it shifts from a tangible, real place into a powerful symbol of memory and loss. By the poem's end, Fern Hill Farm has become a lost Eden that exists only within the poet's imagination.