Memories
Time and memory go hand in hand. As each moment passes, the only tie that we have to our past is what we have stored in our memory. Poets often express their feelings of nostalgia and the sense of the passing of time within their works. Poems such as “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, “The Video” by Fleur Adcock, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, and “Bored” by Margaret Atwood, reveal several variations on the theme of memory and time.
Within the framework of the poem, “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, the childhood memories of a man are exposed. The speaker begins the poem by mentioning that as a child, his life was filled with simple, happy moments as he was “happy as the grass was green” (2). Often within childhood, life is void of the complexities that are often associated with becoming an adult. Free and careless, the speaker mentions the feeling of control that the child had over time and nature. As things moved more slowly, the child had time to explore his surroundings with blissful ignorance even as time passed on. The final stanza of the poem represents the time in the young boys life when he begins to realize what he has learned since transitioning into being an adult. He now knows that the reign over nature and time that he once had, has become trumped by the realities of being an adult.
Looking back on his childhood memories, the speaker of Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” reminisces of a special dance with his father that was a bedtime ritual for the young child. Although the dance may not have been perfect or conventional by any means, it was a memory kept within a special place in the child’s heart. Just as they “waltzed [him] off to bed still clinging to [his] shirt” (15) the speaker still clings to this memory of his father.
Home movies and photographs add to past memories; especially those of young children made by proud parents. Fleur Adcock’s poem “The Video” is representative the eagerness that a child feels to watch themselves and the people that they know on film. The subject of this poem is the story of a young girl, Ceri, who becomes the big sister to her baby sister, Laura, watching her birth both in person and on video. Watching the movie repeatedly, in both forward and reverse, reveals that while Ceri may like to have a little sister, she also thinks about the time when she was the only child. Watching the memory of her sister’s birth and her ability to watch the birth in forward and reverse reminds us that only in video, can we make time fast forward, go backwards, or stand still.
The final piece, “Bored,” by Margaret Atwood, is representative of the feelings that many people experience when they look back on their lives. Specifically, the speaker of this poem recalls a memory of certain experiences from her past—ones that she used to consider mundane and boring. As time passes and the speaker becomes older and more experienced, it becomes evident that he misses the very things that he dreamed of getting away from for so long. Although those times may have been more boring and uneventful, the speaker now understands that “perhaps boredom is happier” (35). Knowing what he knows now, the speaker notes that, going back to his old life, he “wouldn’t be bored [because] now [he] would know too much” (37).
At some point, everyone wishes to know what is going to happen next and to grow up as fast as possible. As identified by these pieces, however, we begin to miss the little simplicities that made us happy when we were bored and naïve as children. We learn that time is perpetual, never stopping, even after we are gone. The speakers of these poems remind us to look upon each moment of our lives and appreciate them as they pass because once the moment has passed, it can never be relived.
Within the framework of the poem, “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, the childhood memories of a man are exposed. The speaker begins the poem by mentioning that as a child, his life was filled with simple, happy moments as he was “happy as the grass was green” (2). Often within childhood, life is void of the complexities that are often associated with becoming an adult. Free and careless, the speaker mentions the feeling of control that the child had over time and nature. As things moved more slowly, the child had time to explore his surroundings with blissful ignorance even as time passed on. The final stanza of the poem represents the time in the young boys life when he begins to realize what he has learned since transitioning into being an adult. He now knows that the reign over nature and time that he once had, has become trumped by the realities of being an adult.
Looking back on his childhood memories, the speaker of Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” reminisces of a special dance with his father that was a bedtime ritual for the young child. Although the dance may not have been perfect or conventional by any means, it was a memory kept within a special place in the child’s heart. Just as they “waltzed [him] off to bed still clinging to [his] shirt” (15) the speaker still clings to this memory of his father.
Home movies and photographs add to past memories; especially those of young children made by proud parents. Fleur Adcock’s poem “The Video” is representative the eagerness that a child feels to watch themselves and the people that they know on film. The subject of this poem is the story of a young girl, Ceri, who becomes the big sister to her baby sister, Laura, watching her birth both in person and on video. Watching the movie repeatedly, in both forward and reverse, reveals that while Ceri may like to have a little sister, she also thinks about the time when she was the only child. Watching the memory of her sister’s birth and her ability to watch the birth in forward and reverse reminds us that only in video, can we make time fast forward, go backwards, or stand still.
The final piece, “Bored,” by Margaret Atwood, is representative of the feelings that many people experience when they look back on their lives. Specifically, the speaker of this poem recalls a memory of certain experiences from her past—ones that she used to consider mundane and boring. As time passes and the speaker becomes older and more experienced, it becomes evident that he misses the very things that he dreamed of getting away from for so long. Although those times may have been more boring and uneventful, the speaker now understands that “perhaps boredom is happier” (35). Knowing what he knows now, the speaker notes that, going back to his old life, he “wouldn’t be bored [because] now [he] would know too much” (37).
At some point, everyone wishes to know what is going to happen next and to grow up as fast as possible. As identified by these pieces, however, we begin to miss the little simplicities that made us happy when we were bored and naïve as children. We learn that time is perpetual, never stopping, even after we are gone. The speakers of these poems remind us to look upon each moment of our lives and appreciate them as they pass because once the moment has passed, it can never be relived.
posted by Molly F. @ 8:39 PM
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