memories

Each of the four poems including, “Bored,” “My Papa’s Waltz,” “The Video,” and “Fern Hill” share the common theme of memories during their childhood. However, contrary to the more frequently heard of times of happiness and carefree minds, all of these poems with the exception of “Fern Hill” follow the topic of unhappiness during their youth.
In Margaret Atwood’s poem entitled “Bored” she focuses on a time when she was unhappy. She is helping someone close to her, possibly a brother or father, do chores that she has no interest in doing. By the end, however, it seems like something has happened to her work partner and maybe she now regrets not having enjoyed the time they had together. “Perhaps though boredom is happier…Now I wouldn’t be bored. Now I would know too much.” This quote gives the impression that she no longer has any time to spend with him. Although she did not embrace the moments she shared at the time, and rather seemed to be annoyed that she was involved with the tasks, the speaker is now happy that she did spend the time. Now, if she had the chance she would not be bored because she would know that those moments would be extremely meaningful.
Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” takes a little bit of a different approach in that I do not think the speaker regrets the time he spent with his father. He definitely, however, regrets the manner in which they spent their time. This can be supported in the first and last stanza in which he explains how he tried to hold on to his father. In the last stanza the speaker says that as his father basically drags him to bed after his beating he is “Still clinging to your shirt.” This shows how he badly he wants to be with his father. Even after the inhumane way his father treats him, the speaker still loves him and just wants to be with him.
The third poem “The Video”, written by Fleur Adcock, is similar to “My Papa’s Waltz” because this also shows how a young child yearns to spend more time with her parents. When Ceri’s baby sister is born, her parents no longer give her attention and have no more time for her it seems. The sadness and pain she must feel begins during the birth of her sister when her dad tells her to move over so that he is able to film better. However, I think she unfairly blames her sister more than her parents because she directs her anger towards the baby. It is more evident the resentment she feels towards her sister for doing this to her in the last line when “she made her go back in.” It is interesting how the speaker is able to demonstrate the fury Ceri is feeling and going through by playing the tape in reverse.
Finally, the last poem, differing slightly from the previous three, “Fern Hill” written by Dylan Thomas, is more about a memory that he uses to escape. The first four stanzas each include only beautiful ideas and pictures. They seem to draw the expected picture of playing and running around, just generally enjoying nature. However, there seems to be a major change in the last stanza where it seems to have a mood of melancholy. It almost seems like he is dreaming about this beautiful picture, but then it is interrupted by reality. “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.” This quote seems to express how when he was young he had a good life and did not suffer much. Then, suddenly something changed in his life and now the only way to relieve his pain is by imagining these youthful ideas.
Poems are a way for a poet to express their inner feelings. Childhood memories are understandably a popular topic because most people do not like to talk about their upsetting memories. These poems do just that to let the pain the speaker is holding in out.