The Days of Old

Thomas, Adcock, Roethke, and Atwood present aspects of childhood in each of their poems. Some of the literature portrays the idea of naivety and fantasy. Other pieces contain less entertaining images involving abuse and neglect.
Dylan Thomas’ “Fern Hill” is a depiction of the imagination and innocence of children. Thomas describes a game of pretend that the speaker used to play as a child. Thomas uses words such as “carefree,” “simple,” “playing,” and “easy” to depict the bliss of childhood. Thomas’ often uses the words “time let…” to describe the boundaries of time. Life is limited in time. As a child, time is seems infinite. The days seem longer and children cannot wait to get older. As time passes, time seems to speed by. Years seem like seconds and the older wish to be young again. Thomas depicts the timelessness of youth. The speaker appears to miss childhood and is reminiscing about his own youth.
“The Video,” by Fleur Adcock, depicts a scene of childbirth. The father is taping the birth while Ceri and the mother’s sister watch. The speaker describes how Ceri watches the tape repeatedly after the baby is born. She describes how Ceri plays and rewinds the tape, watching the baby “come out” and “go back in.” The author seems to imply that Ceri misses the days when she was an only child. She describes a feeling of neglect in saying “Mum had gone back to being thin, and was twice as busy.”
Theodore Roethke displays child abuse in his poem “My Papa’s Waltz.” He uses words such as “romped,” “battered,” “scraped,” and “beat” that depict a harsh image despite the meaning implied by the word “waltz.” Dancing usually entails happiness and glee. However, Roethke uses the term to describe unpleasantness and abuse.
Margaret Atwood’s “Bored” exhibits childhood memories that occurred because the speaker was “bored.” The speaker talks about all the times she was bored as a child and how much she learned from these experiences. The author seems to imply that although the speaker claims boredom as an excuse, the real reason for the hours passed as “bored” was to spend quality time with her dad. Now, as the author speaks about her childhood memories, she remembers the bliss of those days, when there was nothing to be done and she could spend time with her father instead of all of the responsibilities that come with adulthood.