The four poems: “Bored” by Margaret Atwood, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “The Video” by Fleur Adcock, and “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas are all related in the sense that they reflect on memories of the past – of the innocence of their childhoods, and their regrets.

In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Bored,” she talks about how throughout her childhood, she was constantly bored while spending time with her father, and performing meaningless tasks – such as “holding the log while he sawed it” (Atwood 2-3). Now that her father has passed away, she regrets taking for granted their time together, and wishes she could go back to those “boring” times. She realizes, as a grown up, that maybe “boring” was not so bad after all.

“My Papa’s Waltz” is about a boy ‘s abusive experience with his father. Although his father seems to have hurt him, he still loves him, and tries to condone his behavior by comparing the abuse to something beautiful – a waltz. Even though it was a horrid experience, he never stopped loving his father; “I hung on” (Roethke 3).

“The Video” is a poem about a young girl, Ceri, growing up. Her baby sister, Laura, was born. Ceri was not ready to accept the new sibling, because she was used to having all eyes on her. She wishes she could go back to the time when her sister was not born, which is represented by her watching the home video of the birth, and then rewinding it and watching Laura go back in (Adcock 12).

Finally, Thomas’ “Fern Hill” tells about his love for his childhood innocence and carefree nature. It is obvious that he yearns to be young again. He also recognized the passage of time, and how he is no longer young and innocent.

In conclusion, all of these poems clearly represent memories of childhood times. Whether happy and blissful, boring, or negative – the writers reflect on their past days, and what they have learned from them.