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.
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.
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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...'
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.
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.
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.”
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...
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."
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.
"And the Sabbath rang slowly in the pebbles of the holy streams." That is incredibly beautiful.
Probably the best line, but it is spelt with a small s - sabbath, I don't know why. I listened to it with the book of poems in front of me.
"In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace."
Goosebumps.
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 could listen to him all day long, a rich & eloquent voice. Thank you for posting.
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.
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 .
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!
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.
Love his recitals so much... nobody like him.
Love his voice and poetry.
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.
Speechless and quiet human here...Cloaked and nurtured in Mr. Dylan Thomas' wafting words, in that strong and booming voice.
How a poem ought to be read and this poem deserves a great reading
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.
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!
So Profoundly beautiful,,, such Genius,,, thank you for posting!!!
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.
Thomas has the most beautiful voice, and when paired with this gorgeous poem, I feel like I've found heaven on earth. ;)
This has always been my favorite Dylan Thomas poem.
his reading is superb and i love all the alliteration.
This poem delights. I am delighted.
Brings tears to my eyes, makes me want to stop my day and write
Wonderful! Many thanks for this...
My favorite poem...reminds me of my rural youth. Ingenious word crafting!!
Most excellent. Many thanks
Extraordinary, utterly beautiful. It never fails to move me deeply.
Great---he weaves a spell with his words and his voice
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.
What a great piece and presentation. Thanks!
wonderful in the full sense of that word.
Cool! A great poem! In 2008 we have founded a band called Tunes From The Chimneys... ;-)
Absolutely brilliant.
Thank you for posting.
I needed this today. Thanks.
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.
Listen just to 'Now as I was young and...', the first six words of the poem - it sounds like he is beginning a song!
I got the caedmon collection for christmas, best present ever
"Time held me green and dying"
like litte church bells calling the congregation to come the sabbath. I agree! it is a spectacular image.
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.
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.
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...'
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.
It is indeed the man himself reading the poem.
Evocative of my childhood yearnings and sweet naiveté. Peter Pan was right and Dylan Thomas sublime.
Listened together with the poet Dr Craig Powell who explained the words. Lovely, lovely poem.
It is not unrelated to the spirit of Rimbaud ! and it is as beautiful too
He's a rock star
LOVE THIS
HEY I KNOW THIS GUY! HE'S THE LEAD SINGER OF THE DOORS!
Sublime.
1 person wants to be a child forever
excellent
@yippitydodah You are right! Ending a poem with the word sea is liberating. It could have been "sang in my chains like the furniture!
went his grave in Laugherne.. a hero~~
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.
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.”
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.
master of the english tongue
He sounds like he could be a good singer
Is thls read by Dylan Thomas?
God couldn't have done better...
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...
Dylan.
I sang in my chains like the sea.
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."
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.
Lovely ... I do like Richard Burton' interpretation tho
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.
Sky blu.
Sir please explain in hindi please
Go away and take your doggrel with you.