The
Glass is Half Empty
I know the gist of Dylan
Thomas' poem, "Fern Hill," is something like
living with no thought for the future until it's too late. Do you have a complete
analysis of the poem you could send me? We're performing a choral work by John Corigliano
that uses the poem as the text of the music and I'd love to be able to
explain the poem fully to the choir.
I
chose
"Fern
Hill"
for
the
Four
section
of
Poetry
&
Personality
because Fours are
known for their focus on the past, their concern
for the dissolution of the world in general, and their specific pain, which makes it
difficult to enjoy the present.
However, it was somewhat arbitrary of me to assign
this poem to Fours. I could make a case for other
styles as well. We all dig in our heels when an opening
for change occurs. We've bought in so dogmatically to the apparent rewards of
behaving as we always have, it's difficult to let go and face the unknown
aspects of a changed perspective. I've chosen
"Fern Hill" to represent in part the
Enneagram Four's particular
driving force: "I am who I am through the image of
suffering." The poem illustrates for me the fixation of Fours on
the tragedy and romance of life. This dynamic characterizes all
of us to some degree – but others aren't quite so hooked by
life's tragedy
Fours have difficulty moving beyond their sorrowful view, which
is captured beautifully, I think, in the lines, "And nothing I cared, at my
sky blue trades, 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," or in
"Time held me green and dying / Though I sang in my chains like the sea."
One of my Four friends said she was "too busy trying to stay afloat
in my own ocean" to act on the problems she saw her adult children facing. This is
the penultimate Four-ish quality (and one we can all identify with), to see only the glass
half-empty – because we tend to identify with these deep feelings, to be lost in them,
to remember even happy childhood memories with anguish and to "sing in our chains."
Nicholas Cage said in a Mirabella
magazine interview that he was influenced by Jim Morrison, who shortly
before his death said "he had never done a song that conveyed pure happiness." Cage
said this was for him "a cautionary warning to develop that side of myself...and
not just stay in the dark side.... (and be) Angst Man."
In another
article,
I
wrote "One of the ways I've experienced a Four-like anguish is... a mourning for all the pain and evil
in the world and an attraction to 'doing something about it' (e.g., volunteering to take meals to AIDS victims) without actually moving
past my emotions and taking action. As one of my Four friends expressed it,
"When I'm in this place I avoid meditation/prayer,
fearing if I looked for my essential
Self 'there might be no
one home.' When I can
stay with this fear I 'remember' myself, become more clear about what I
value, and act accordingly."
There's a way in which "Fern Hill" does not fit Fours. The
poet Dylan Thomas' childhood memories in this poem are generally
positive, whereas Fours tend to dwell on the problems in their past.
But the poem does imbue even the happiest memories with a sense of
impending tragedy, of a glass half-empty.
