Don't Hate, Appreciate.

College is the perfect place to realize the importance of family. As my first extended stay from home, I am able to aptly understand the role my family has played in my life. It is only now that I can truly question the appreciation I have shown them. I feel that I take for granted the time that I spend with them, no matter how worthless the activity we are doing may seem. The poems for today are focused on the idea of home, family, and the different perspectives of the meaning of a father figure.
Dylan Thomas’ Fern Hill speaks of a beautiful place of youth, innocence, and relaxation. This carefree countryside seems like an imaginary place that could be used as an escape. There is also the mention of a male other than the author. This “He” is the father figure of the story, and could symbolize God the Father. I question Thomas’ motive for writing a poem like Fern Hill due to Dylan’s reserved and sickly childhood. Fern Hill could have been Dylan Thomas’ wishful idea of a home worth his appreciation, with a father that the children would “follow out of grace”.
The Video is a laconic, satirical poem. Adcock uses quick, easy rhymes and humor to speak of one perspective of family. When a family is first started, time spent together is treasured and often captured, like in the poem, on the camcorder. The humor of the final line produces the familial theme while discussing the possible idea of rekindling the enjoyment that a family first has. As a family grows older, people lose appreciation for each other, and relationships weaken. If a video is the best way for someone to realize how much people love one another, so be it.
A clear use of the father figure takes place in Theodore Roethke’s My Papa’s Waltz. The writer is recounting a part of childhood, with this story of his father. The poem describes a father trying to dance with his son, dancing the waltz. However, the father is intoxicated and he has a hard time trying to gracefully waltz as the boy “hung on like death”. This poem is an example of family issues. Alcoholism is one specific problem that plagues families, and it is tough to deal with, especially if a dominant male figure has the problem. Roethke speaks of how the mother sadly and angrily looked on as the waltz seemed to ravage the house, the son, and the father. Theodore uses this poem to show the movement through the waltz in the house, the child’s average day, and a family’s life.
Margaret Atwood’s Bored is another poem centered on a father figure. Atwood spends the entire poem being bored and tired of the same old chores and tasks with her father. She is constantly trying to find an escape or comfort from her everyday boredom. It is not until later, after her father’s passing, that she realizes how much she appreciates the time they spent together. Atwood wishes she appreciated the life they had together while they had it. This poem especially makes me contemplate the relationships I have established among my family members. I need to show them the appreciation they deserve and enjoy the time we have together. I would hate to no longer have my family and wish they were with me at that moment. “Then I wouldn’t be Bored…Now I would know.”