Blog 5

The poems "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas, "The Video" by Fleur Adcock, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Bored" by Margaret Atwood all have the central theme of memories and the emotions they evoke when remembered.
The narrator in "Fern Hill" longs for a time when he was young and carefree as a result of his childhood memories. He looks back at his youth as filled with complete innocence, calling them "lamb white days" (line 46). The narrator uses light, cheerful things to compare to his childhood, such as green grass, flowers, streams and farms. However, to show the contrast of his adult life, he uses chains and shadows. It is obvious that recalling his youth has made the narrator long for an era he cannot get back. Because he was so carefree and absorbed in himself, he took for granted the simple pleasures of life, such as a "trail with daisies and barley" (line 8). The narrator's memories leave him feeling wistful for a happier time.
For Ceri, a memory is much easier to recall with the help of a videotape in "The Video." The birth of her sister can be watched and rewatched at her leisure, which perhaps can make it more difficult because the last line of the poem indicates the birth of Laura is not a particularly favorite memorie of Ceri. Ceri tries as hard as she can to reverse the birth of her sister, by playing with the memory in the videotape, yet this is obviously not possible. In that one video, Ceri remembers a time when she was the only child in her parents' eyes, and the center of attention. The memory of Laura's birth makes her wish it had never happened and leaves her feeling sad when she cannot change it.
The overall point of "My Papa's Waltz" is for the narrator to show that he feels this memory, rather than recalls it. He uses minute details, like how his father's breath smells, and the knuckle that he was held with to show the memory, rather than tell it. To the narrator, it is more important to show than to tell. These small details about his father hint at how much the narrator misses this time with his father when he was a boy. The last line of the poem, "Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt" shows that the narrator is still clinging to this memory of his father, and will be for some time.
The overall message of the memories presented in "Bored" is to not take advantage of your youth. The narrator recalls being young and bored, but would give anything to be back in those days of simplicity, holding the log her father chopped. The narrator claims that she would not be bored in those days of doing nothing, because it was so much better than her life now. As with all of the previous poems, this narrators longs for the days when her memory took place.
All four poems represent memories of times the respective narrators wish they could return to. However, they will just have to make do with their memories, because that is the only way they can relive their thoughts.