Wednesday, June 15, 2011

In the Pebbles of the Holy Streams

"...And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
     In the sun that is young once only,
          Time let me play and be
     Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
          And the sabbath rang slowly
     In the pebbles of the holy streams." 
--Dylan Thomas (from Fern Hill)

The end of the school year makes me feel this way, green and golden.  Focused on the time soon to come to rejoice in free time, reconnect with the pebbles in the holy streams--truly my idea of a religious experience.  This poem, Fern Hill, is both celebratory and mournful.  Celebratory in that it exalts the best of life, the best of feeling: 

 "Happy as the grass was green"
" I was prince of the apple towns"
"And fire green as grass"
"And nightly under the simple stars"
"The sky gathered again and the sun grew round that very day"
"On to the fields of praise"
"Happy as the heart was long"

Mournful in that it reminds us that time is fleeting, time is short:

"In the sun that is young only once"
"Time let me play and be golden in the mercy of his means"
"That time allows in all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs before the children green and golden follow him out of grace"
"In the moon that is always rising"

And the last three lines of the poem:

"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 is one of my favorite poems!  And it's speaking to me today:  Enjoy your life, ME, don't waste time.  Embrace the best parts of life and cherish them.  Love, be kind, help others, rejoice in the noise of nature and the quiet of home.  Hold each day in the palm of my hand, roll it over, look at it, rub it for luck and live it for goodness sakes. 

In 2 days, it will officially be Summer for me.  I can't wait!

"On to the happy fields of praise!"

1 comment:

  1. Have you shared some of your favorite poems with C & J? They would probably like that experience.

    ReplyDelete