"Fern Hill" is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in 1945. It is a nostalgic and lyrical exploration of childhood, time, and the passage of life. Here is the summary of the poem:

Fern Hill – Background: 

Dylan Thomas wrote his famous poem “Fern Hill” around 1944–1945. The inspiration for this poem came from his real-life experiences of childhood and adolescence. His maternal aunt, Annie Jones, had a farmhouse in Wales named Fernhill. The poet spent many joyful and carefree days there as a child. The natural, free, and peaceful life he experienced at that time later became the central inspiration for this poem.

Thomas saw his childhood as a kind of dream-like paradise, where a deep bond existed between man and nature. The fields, rivers, sun, sky, and animals all became symbols of joy and creative energy in life. However, as the poet grew older, he realized that Time is actually a powerful and cruel force. It gradually erases the happiness and innocence of childhood. This realization gives the poem its deeper meaning, that no matter how much man is bound by time, his memory and creative spirit remain eternal.

Fern Hill summary

Stanza 1 – The Joy of Childhood under Nature: In this stanza, the poet recalls the happy days of his childhood. At that time, he was young, carefree, and full of joy. He played and laughed under the apple trees and around the village houses. The green grass, blue sky, and starry nights made everything look like a dream. In the line “Time let me hail and climb,” time appears as his friend, a gentle force that allows him to live freely. The poet feels like a prince in his world, “prince of the apple towns,” the ruler of the orchards. The trees, leaves, flowers, and the light of the river all seem to dance and sing with him.

(In this stanza, three ideas come together: the joy of childhood, the beauty of nature, and the kindness of time. The poet has not yet realized that time will one day take this joy away. For now, it is only a time of laughter, play, and freedom.)

Stanza 2 – Carefree Youth and Harmony with Nature: In this stanza, the poet remembers another phase of his childhood. During this time, he was “green and carefree”, young, fresh, and free from worry. He played, sang, and laughed in the farmyard, which felt like his whole world and home. The line “In the sun that is young once only” means that the sun of youth shines only once in a lifetime. This is the most beautiful time of life. The poet says that time was still kind to him. “Time let me play and be/golden in the mercy of his means”, time allowed him to play and live joyfully.

He saw himself as a “huntsman and herdsman,” a friend of animals and a part of nature itself. The calves responded to the sound of his horn, and the foxes on the hills barked joyfully. At the end, the poet says, “And the sabbath rang slowly in the pebbles of the holy streams.” This means that on peaceful Sundays, even the pebbles in the river seemed to ring like sacred bells. This scene shows how nature was in harmony with him, calm, musical, and pure.

(In this stanza, the poet expresses his joyful unity with nature, animals, and time. Life was simple, pure, and full of music.) 

Stanza 3 – The Magic of Day and Night in Childhood: In this stanza, the poet describes the beauty and wonder of both day and night in his childhood. During the day, life under the shining sun was “lovely”, bright, joyful, and full of energy. The hayfields were as tall as the houses, and music floated through the air from the chimneys. All around him, there was only laughter and play. Nature seemed alive, in the water, in the fire, and in the grass.

In “And nightly under the simple stars…” the poet shows the calm beauty of the night. The stars sparkled in the sky, the village was quiet, and the poet would fall asleep to the hooting of owls. He imagined that the owls were carrying the whole farm away into the sky. Under the moonlight, he could hear the night birds (nightjars) flying and the horses running through the dark. These images created a dreamlike world in his mind, a magical place where day and night, light and darkness, all blended into poetry and wonder.

(In this stanza, the poet beautifully presents the charm of nature, the magic of day and night, and the imagination of a child. Life feels like a long, melodious song filled with joy, dreams, and peace.)

Stanza 4 – The Morning of Creation and Innocence:  In this stanza, the poet describes the magical morning scene when he wakes up from sleep. The farm was “like a wanderer white with the dew”, bright and shining like a traveler covered with morning dew. The rooster crowed, and the sunlight slowly spread across the fields. Everything looked new, fresh, and pure. The poet says that this moment felt like “Adam and maiden”, as if it were the first morning of the world, pure and innocent. The sky opened again, and the sun grew round and golden, as though the first morning of creation had returned.

The line “So it must have been after the birth of the simple light” means that the poet felt as if he were witnessing the moment right after God created the first light. The horses were “spellbound,” walking gently out of the green stable into the “fields of praise.” In that field, nature, light, and life seemed to sing together in harmony.

(In this stanza, the poet compares the beauty of morning to the dawn of creation. In the eyes of the child, the world seems newly born, pure, innocent, and full of life.)

Stanza 5 – The Freedom and Forgetfulness of Youth: In this stanza, the poet says that he was completely free, carefree, and full of joy. He was “honoured among foxes and pheasants”. It means that even among the animals of nature, he was a loved and friendly presence. Around him were colorful houses, newly formed clouds, and a bright, sunlit sky. He was filled with happiness, “happy as the heart was long.” In the line “In the sun born over and over,” the poet means that just as the sun is born anew every day, his life too woke up each morning with new joy and energy. He ran in his “heedless ways”, that is, without worry or fear, through the tall stacks of hay and beneath the blue sky, his wishes flying freely everywhere.

At that time, he never thought about time. “Nothing I cared… that time allows”, time was still his friend. Time allows him to laugh, play, and live without care. But he did not realize that in this musical turning of time, there are “so few and such morning songs,” meaning that such joyful mornings are very rare and short-lived. Finally, the poet says, “Before the children green and golden/Follow him out of grace”. It means that when time’s grace ends, even those innocent and happy children lose their joy and innocence and enter the real, adult world.

(In this stanza, the poet shows the freedom of childhood and the unnoticed loss of beauty with the passing of time. He did not yet realize that such happiness would not last forever.)

Stanza 6 – The Realization of Time and Loss:  In this final stanza, the poet realizes that the joyful days of his childhood did not last forever. He once lived in “lamb white days,” meaning days of innocence and peace, but he never thought that time would one day take him away from that happiness. The line “Up to the swallow-thronged loft” suggests that time would carry him to a place where the birds of childhood had already flown away, where his old happiness could never return. In “The moon that is always rising”, the moon becomes a symbol of time that keeps moving forever and never stops for anyone.

The poet says that, just like falling asleep at night, time slowly carried him away from his childhood. When he finally woke up, he saw that “the farm forever fled from the childless land.” This means that his beloved farm, his childhood paradise, had vanished forever; the land had become empty, lifeless, and without children. The famous closing lines, “Time held me green and dying, / Though I sang in my chains like the sea,” show that time kept him young and alive, yet at the same time pushed him toward death. Still, he did not give up. He continued to sing even in the chains of time. He keeps the song of life alive.

(In this stanza, the poet realizes the great truth of life: time never stops for anyone. Childhood joy fades away, but the memory of it and the song of creation make human life eternal.)