Childhood loss in Fern Hill's and Worth's Thomas's Ode: allusions to immortalityThanks to the use of nature and time, Dylan Thomas's "Fern Hill" and Williamworth's "Ode: Indications of Immortality" both address the excruciating loss of childhood. While Worth recognizes that wisdom and experience reward this loss (Poetry Criticism 370), Thomas views “life after childhood as slavery” (Viswanathan 286). As "Fern Hill" progresses, Thomas's attitude toward childhood changes from one of happiness and fulfillment to sadness and loss. In the first five stanzas of “Fern Hill,” Thomas uses nature as a pleasant childhood memory, but in the last stanza, his childhood memories of nature reveal what he has lost. In this last stanza, Thomas, instead of reveling in the memory of childhood, can only evoke pain. The metamorphosis of the words "green" and "gold" throughout his poem, moving from freshness to decadence, helps express Thomas's perceived loss of innocence and carefreeness. Thomas initially personifies Time as “Golden” in line 5; time considers Thomas “the prince of apple towns” (line 6) worthy of the riches that nature has to offer. Thomas refers to “green and gold” again in line 10: “green and carefree…” to describe himself as young and blessed. The ironic statement: “Green and gold, I was a hunter…the calves sang to the sound of my horn” (line 15) demonstrates the power bestowed upon him by childhood. Traditionally, a horn "sings" to another object, but Thomas's calves sing with his horn, demonstrating that childhood confers a power unattainable at any other stage of life. Thomas, as an adult, does not have the power to do the unexpected because the magic of childhood can no longer create these kinds of illusions. The power of the image of childhood... middle of paper ...... the word "sung" suggests that Thomas eventually accepts adulthood, even if he does so reluctantly. Thus, while Thomas seems to make "heaven a hell" (Paradise Lost line 255), Worth is able to regress to childhood in his mind and heart while retaining adult reason and rationality. no longer allow his fear of mortality and adulthood to prevent him from “living.” Although both Thomas and Worth are saddened by the loss of their childhood, Worth's ability to recognize the rewards of adulthood—knowledge, experience, and a philosophical mind greater than any other. that of the child- makes his poem a guide to life more than that of Thomas. Thomas, in his regretful acceptance of age, feels “old for being young”; Worth, on the other hand, enlightens the reader on how to feel "young to be old ».."