Childhood is often referred to by many writers as the happiest times of your life. Seamus Heaney’s and Dylan Thomas’s poems show that they believe in that principle. However, DH Lawrence’s poems show that he did not have a happy childhood and he makes that point abundantly clear. In “Death of a Naturalist”, Heaney shows that he once had a love of nature but, after one incident, he lost that love forever. The structure of the poem shows his change of opinion: the first verse uses adjectives and nice images that infer that the subject he is talking about is one that he likes; but the style of language changes in the second verse where the vocabulary used shows the reader that the poet now does not like his poem subject at all. Words like “rank”, “coarse” and “obscene” are used as negative adjectives in the second verse, so enforcing the view that he has now lost his love for nature. The first half of the poem shows that he was a very happy little boy who had a genuine interest in the world around him, but in the second half the mood becomes quite tense and he builds up to the moment. Although he uses some quite harsh imagery to describe how he felt, the mood seems to just become surreal, rather than sombre. The tone in “Fern Hill” is of joy throughout. The poem is Thomas’s view on what the countryside has been like for him and how it played a huge role in his life. The imagery used is frequently of a happy nature, and this adds to the joyous tone of the poem. It describes many journeys that he took throughout his life and, from the mood of the poem we can see that these times were happy for him. David Lawrence’s poems however, take on a much graver attitude to the concept of childhood, based on his own experiences in his youth. “Discord of Childhood” shows a scene of abuse in his family home. He creates a feeling of a young boy sitting in his bedroom listening to the domestic violence going on in his life. The mood is both striking and depressing. The poet feels inadequate in his world, and all he has to focus on is the violent altercation going on between his father and his mother. His inadequacy is shown through the way he describes the fight in terms of images of things that are often unstoppable – a storm and the wind. If the poet felt he could do anything about the situation then his use of language would tend more to that thinking. The poet creates an atmosphere of powerless sadness in that particular episode of his childhood; David Lawrence seems to despise his past. The feeling in “Piano” is slightly different, as the poet is now an older man and becomes nostalgic; he talks about being taken “back down the vista of years”. He yearns for his childhood back and especially for his mother. The poem begins when he hears the woman singing and this takes him back and sets the tone of the poem throughout. The mood is melancholic and the poet seems to pity himself for all the hardship he has gone through, and sees his past as a way of combating the problem.
A recurring theme that runs throughout three of the poems is that of nature. Heaney and Thomas refer to it strongly in their poems, as they see their childhoods being synonymous with nature and the countryside. Nature features strongly for these two poets as they see it as their childhood. Lawrence mentions the ash tree hanging outside his window as a metaphor for what was going on in another part of his house – “Outside the house an ash-tree hung its terrible whips”. He has made a disturbing connection with nature that the other two poets have not. He shows that the power of nature is rivalled by the power of his father on a rampage of hatred. Nature to Lawrence was a thing that reminded him of the horrible reality of his life. Nature to Thomas and Heaney was a thing that was a beautiful reality. Lawrence also uses the theme of his house in both his poems. He shows the reader a house where the horrible reality of his past came in to be, and yet he still wants it. This house has played a major part in Lawrence’s life and he expresses this in his poetry.
In “Fern Hill”, the language used is sophisticated and it shows that the poet is using the full extent of his vocabulary, and his complete mastery of the English language to full effect so as to make the poem a work of art. The length of the poem and the style in which it is written, shows that it was probably not written in one sitting, using only the thoughts in the poet’s head, but was a crafted and structured piece of work. In the other three poems, the use of crafted English is not so apparent - Heaney uses slang words and childlike phrases. All the poems are written well and the use of adjectives and imagery is present in all of them. However, the adjectives used in “Discord in Childhood” are very pronounced words - “slashed”, “booming”, “shrieked”. When the poem is read out aloud, these words are very distinguishable, and it places a huge emphasis on these harsh words, so the mood of the poem comes out better if read aloud. The use of language adds to the tone of all four poems. Harsh adjectives make “Discord in Childhood” a disturbing poem of violence. A simple verse structure makes “Piano” a dark nostalgic poem. A wide use of language structure makes “Fern Hill” a masterpiece fit for representing Thomas’ view of the countryside. The use of colloquial language makes “Death of a Naturalist” a personal view of a pinnacle moment in Heaney’s life.
The four poems all provoke a very strong personal response from their readers, and so are very well written as the particular feelings of the poet come out well in their use of language and words. DH Lawrence provokes a feeling of pity when you read his poems. When you read “Discord in Childhood”, the reader is thrown into an unfamiliar environment where you would feel very alone. The imagery used is both harsh and fierce, and he describes the outcome as a “silence of blood” which creates a very sombre mood for the end of the poem. He brings out in this poem the full horror of the situation, and this brings out a similar feeling in the reader. In “Piano”, the reader is made to feel aware of the downhearted feelings of the poet as he talks about weeping after recalling the memory of his old family life.
After reading the poems of Thomas and Heaney, the reader can see an obvious love for nature. For Dylan Thomas, this is shown as a wild carefree passion that he wishes to share with others. With Seamus Heaney however, his passion for nature takes a disturbing knock when a situation gets out of hand and his love for nature is instantly quelled. His poem contains surrealism and he seems to elaborate a lot on a memory that did not happen as it was told. He refers to the frogs as “mud grenades” and “slime kings”. All this adds to a well written poem where the poet has made his intentions clear to anyone reading it. One of the main similarities is the use of nature as a powerful image in three of these poems. However, all the poets use it in different senses. DH Lawrence draws on big and powerful aspects of nature such as storms and high winds. He does this to highlight his thoughts on the situation in his house. Dylan Thomas draws on all the majesty of the countryside in his poem. He has a huge experience of its beauty and he writes his poem to culminate all his childhood memories into one poem that expresses all his love for nature. Seamus Heaney uses a bit of both of the other poets styles in his poem. He shows a love for nature in the first verse, but also tells the reader how he lost it all in the second verse.
However, one issue is a constant theme throughout all four of the poems – that of childhood. These poems are outlets for the poets to show feelings that they felt years before, but could not express at that time. The main difference is that two of the poets draw on happy memories, but DH Lawrence shows his discontentment throughout his childhood. All the poets have some thing profound to say and all of them make their points in poems, similar in theme, but different in content.
By
Simon Maine
11BD