colors, fern hill

I noticed a lot of color symbolism throughout the poem as well. Yet, I regarded the colors as change and an indication of time moving onward. The first color is “green” which embodies youth. Thomas then combines the beauty of “green” youth with “golden” to convey the idea that being young is the prized time in life. Yet, the poem shifts with the “fire green as grass.” The image of this green fire is unusual because one thinks of red, orange, or yellow flames not green ones. I think Thomas creates this green fire because when working with chemicals the color green is emitted when an element is added. For example, barium creates a green flame. I think the image of the green fire is the turn of the poem because the innocence of the pure green youth is gone and something has altered the innocence of the child depicted in the poem. Perhaps, the spoiled innocence is like the barium that changes the color of the fire. Thomas then reverts to the image of innocence with the “wanderer white.” Now, the person depicted in the poem is no longer a child or a child being changed by experience but an adult gazing nostalgically back at his youth. In the ending of the poem the color green is used again as the person is “green and dying.” I think the image of “green” is repeated in the end to reinforce the idea that the person is reverting back to youth. Also, by remembering one’s youth’s green one can keep a piece of their childhood as they wander into death’s arms.