Every day when I let my horses out into the pasture I speak outloud “ the spellbound horses walking warm out of the whinnying green stable onto the fields of praise”, and I bask in the magic of the moment.
I learnt this poem at school, around 12 yrs old. I'm in my seventies now and phrases from it still run through my mind at the right moments - but I don't think any moments could be as perfect as the one you describe here.
DUDE CL4 mine too. I memorized it and got to live in it over and over as I practiced. It’s partially my story too. The nostalgia of childhood on the farm.......
I liked this poem very much as a young man skimming is surface in my unknowing. Now as an old man with a short future, I love it. I followed time out of my innocence, while she held me in her mercy. And I am even more profoundly grateful that she has held me in it for so long since, enabling some precious joy, and forgiving so much foolishness and failure. Maybe she will hold me until the gentle owls fly me away in the night.
+Martin McAuley Fern Hill is a SHIT Poem!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burton was a Toss Pot!!!!!!!!!!!! And William McGonagall is a far better poet than Dylan Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+Mike - Well, he wouldn't pass a grammar test with it. But he's writing in machine code. A psychopomp word-melter. Writing in-between. Every pencil writes in stencil, you know. Touch of the schizophrenes, if you ask me. Very beautiful isn't it. If you've the compatible neck-top software. Otherwise, it will just be annoying - Time is not green, and the sea not chains etc.
Assaulted all at once with bombast, Swinburne-like cascade of images and words and a talent to make the old seem new, this elegant statement on time and death makes us aware, and at the same time, celebrate through song, the briefness of our existence here on earth: the intertwining of life and death tied by the magic of the wordsmith. The two Welshmen compliment each other and the lovely practice of poetry lives for moment. Let's all have a pint, at a pub, with Dylan and Dick.
Burton's recitation of this magnificent poem is the best ever. To be honest, I thought Prince Charles did a very good rendition of it as well. This poem encapsulates Life.
Only one sort of life - that of a person who has had an idyllic childhood. There are those of us for whom the passage of time is a release from nightmare, not a source of acute nostalgia.
Used to read this to my daughter when she was an infant. (They say that you should read to infants even before they can speak, to help them pick up on the sounds of language). The experience of reading this poem out loud is very enjoyable, but it's also... rather emotionally overwhelming, in a way that perhaps the printed word on the page is not. I would usually have a tough time getting through that last stanza.
For a different (& better, I think) recording of Richard Burton reading Fern Hill, listen to this one : th-cam.com/video/mM39ChglcYc/w-d-xo.html This, probably earlier, recording sounds less hurried and there are no left out , glitchy lines.
(guest) Just a little snippet : ref' " ...riding to sleep"... Apparently his grandfather used to ride an imaginary ( ? ) rocking horse in the next room.... Heard that in a programme recently... Can't understand most of it... Going to seek clarity....🤔.. Was D.T. quite " right" in the head , or did he maybe have a mental condition perhaps? It's so mysterious, it needs explaining, decoding.... 🤔☺🤔❤🤔
Although Burton was Welsh, it is almost as if he never heard Dylan Thomas recite this gem. Burton has no idea of the cadence and musicality of the author's recitation. Rushed and blurred, accents in the wrong place. A travesty. Good god.
Every day when I let my horses out into the pasture I speak outloud “ the spellbound horses walking warm out of the whinnying green stable onto the fields of praise”, and I bask in the magic of the moment.
What a wonderful thing to do Sidilicious!
I hope you continue to do do, Sidlicious, because time is so short, and now my horses are only in my memory and dreams.
I learnt this poem at school, around 12 yrs old. I'm in my seventies now and phrases from it still run through my mind at the right moments - but I don't think any moments could be as perfect as the one you describe here.
This is on my top 3 list of poems. It's such utter genius that I can barely stand to read it. It kills me and makes me alive all at once.
Beautiful no need for extra comment
DUDE CL4 mine too. I memorized it and got to live in it over and over as I practiced. It’s partially my story too. The nostalgia of childhood on the farm.......
DUDE CL4 what are your other two if I may ask?
I'm Swansea born and bred and I'm a proud Welsh man and love this by Richard Burton who was a huge Dylan Thomas fan..Diolch from Clase Swansea
tidy Stephen
I liked this poem very much as a young man skimming is surface in my unknowing. Now as an old man with a short future, I love it. I followed time out of my innocence, while she held me in her mercy. And I am even more profoundly grateful that she has held me in it for so long since, enabling some precious joy, and forgiving so much foolishness and failure. Maybe she will hold me until the gentle owls fly me away in the night.
I cannot think of a more perfect poem, the imagery makes me catch my breath
How utterly great is this?
Thank you for posting this wonderful voice and a tribute to the great Dylan Thomas.
If there are 2 lines more beautiful in the English language than the last 2 lines of this poem I have never read them.
+Martin McAuley Fern Hill is a SHIT Poem!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burton was a Toss Pot!!!!!!!!!!!! And William McGonagall is a far better poet than Dylan Thomas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In art there is no "better"
Shallow comparisons and ad hominem are for the critics
Actually, All My Poems Are Shit!!! I am NOT clever!!!
+Mike - Well, he wouldn't pass a grammar test with it. But he's writing in machine code. A psychopomp word-melter. Writing in-between. Every pencil writes in stencil, you know. Touch of the schizophrenes, if you ask me. Very beautiful isn't it. If you've the compatible neck-top software. Otherwise, it will just be annoying - Time is not green, and the sea not chains etc.
Of course there is better. Even the artist aims for this necessity.
Assaulted all at once with bombast, Swinburne-like cascade of images and words and a talent to make the old seem new, this elegant statement on time and death makes us aware, and at the same time, celebrate through song, the briefness of our existence here on earth: the intertwining of life and death tied by the magic of the wordsmith. The two Welshmen compliment each other and the lovely practice of poetry lives for moment. Let's all have a pint, at a pub, with Dylan and Dick.
Burton's recitation of this magnificent poem is the best ever.
To be honest, I thought Prince Charles did a very good rendition of it as well.
This poem encapsulates Life.
Only one sort of life - that of a person who has had an idyllic childhood. There are those of us for whom the passage of time is a release from nightmare, not a source of acute nostalgia.
Yes, we now have a King who can speak poetry in the right way.
Thank you for this a perfect merging of grace!
The best reading of this perfect poem
Chunk missing after once below a time!!
Used to read this to my daughter when she was an infant. (They say that you should read to infants even before they can speak, to help them pick up on the sounds of language). The experience of reading this poem out loud is very enjoyable, but it's also... rather emotionally overwhelming, in a way that perhaps the printed word on the page is not. I would usually have a tough time getting through that last stanza.
That’s incredible- perfection
Brilliant Reading.
Damn I MISS this voice..
Very moving!!!
What a beautiful and meaningful poem framed by Burton's great voice
Beautiful
Wtf happen to the chopped out words from “below a time “ until “ the windfall light”. Why upload a poem with pieces missing?
For a different (& better, I think) recording of Richard Burton reading Fern Hill, listen to this one : th-cam.com/video/mM39ChglcYc/w-d-xo.html
This, probably earlier, recording sounds less hurried and there are no left out , glitchy lines.
"once below a ti...vers of the windfall light"
Damn CD skipped a line!
None of today's actors, not one of them, compares.....
Matthew Rhys
His voice makes my heart race.
Then what will be the philosophy of fern hill
cormac are you reading the comments?
it love it passionately, but whats with the edit halfway through 'time' to 'windfall light' in the first stanza?! two whole lines are gone!
I have this recording on a Spoken Word record. Just thrilling. BTW my husband wasin "Camelot" with Mr. B.
@wednesdayste
I explained this imperfection in the 'comments' section of my video. Pse click on 'show more' and you'll read it all.
Declaimed. Locked in rhythm.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I effing hate the funeral plan ads.
Sliver like silver the glint you shone
(guest)
Just a little snippet : ref'
" ...riding to sleep"...
Apparently his grandfather
used to ride an imaginary ( ? ) rocking horse in the next room....
Heard that in a programme recently...
Can't understand most of it...
Going to seek clarity....🤔..
Was D.T. quite " right" in the head ,
or did he maybe have a mental condition perhaps?
It's so mysterious, it needs explaining, decoding....
🤔☺🤔❤🤔
(guest)
Tried to edit : " in the next room " should be next to " rocking horse " ... the editing function wouldn't correct the mistake...
🤔☺
If you can understand all this you are a better man than me Gundga Din!
They obsessed 'back when' with the idle notion that Burton was actually Thomas. The twain are as far apart as apples and ferries.
Thus begins the tempest to my soul
I have listened to Many Many authors poets ect ect. None compare to this man's Shit. He depresses me. How he ever became popular is beyond me.
Who do you recommend I read or listen to instead?
genuine interest..
(guest)
Martin, I'd like to see any
one of
us do better.
🤔🇬🇧🌈😊
Cobblers!
Listen to Dylan Thomas reading this,Richard is trying a bit too hard. I'm sure he would agree..
It*s still my favourite poem,nevertheless
Funny, I actually prefer Richard's reading somehow. I love Dylan's voice too, but Richard's interpretation helped me understand it a little better.
Although Burton was Welsh, it is almost as if he never heard Dylan Thomas recite this gem. Burton has no idea of the cadence and musicality of the author's recitation. Rushed and blurred, accents in the wrong place. A travesty. Good god.
Way too fast, with little variance in tone. Dylan is far better.
You are stone wrong. Can you NOT hear Burton's incredible ability to give drama to even ONE single word, let alone to a line of verse?
I agree. He sounds like Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol. Too ominous, though I love Burton's voice in other things.
I agree, don't care for his rendition at all.
I love both Dylan’s and Burton’s readings. It is not a contest - as each brings something different and something special to this wonderful poem!
The pacing is great, but the theatrical diction is dated.
To Tina Turner Neil Diamond with love from
Victoria
Total and utter crap writer.
Overacting.