The Darkling Thrush Essay Research Paper The

The Darkling Thrush Essay, Research Paper

The poem entitled The Darkling Thrush, written by Thomas Hardy, has a very appealing connotation. The work can be separated into two parts; the dismal part pertaining to the beginning of winter and the second part focusing on one small aspect of good in all of the dismal surrounding it. The general idea of the poem is that the dismal winter is approaching, but there are some incidences of goodness in this depressing time.

The first part can be sectioned into the first and second stanzas. The poem opens with I leant upon a coppice gate. This is the moment when the author enters the small wood and begins to narrate his thoughts and feelings. The next line, lines two and three, talk about The frost was specter-gray and winters dregs made desolate. This describes that the author feels that during this season, the idea of frost and no greenery, makes the winter a very desolate season. The fourth line is very interesting. It states The weakening eye of day. This displays that during the winter, the time of day shortens. The author relates this shortening of daylight to the weakening of the eye. Lines seven and eight also help to describe the desolates of the winter months. It states And all mankind sought their household fires. This line suggests that the narrator views the summer months as a time of friendliness and togetherness. During the winter months, people close up and seek their homes for warmth.

The second stanza, which is also considered to be in the first part of the poem, depicts the death of the winter months. Lines nine and ten seem to convey this thought most clearly. It states, The lands sharp features seem to be the century s corpse. These lines explain that the beautiful and detailed features of the land seem to be dead.

The third stanza is where everything seems to turn around. As the narrator seems to be sitting in this small wood, they seem to see a thrush, which is a small bird. Lines eighteen through twenty seem to explain this very simply. They state, At once a voice arouse in a full-hearted evening song. This tells the reader that under all of this gloom, there is one living aspect and that is this bird.

The fourth and final stanza tells the reader the narrator s new feelings on the winter months. This is best summed up in the last two lines of the poem. They state, Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew and I was unaware. This states that the narrator feels that winter will soon be ending and the tiny little thrush showed the narrator this. The narrator now knows that there is a hope of the summer months coming.

The theme of the poem is to find good meaning in everything and that good is always present in everything. God does things for a reason and the good may not always be immediately visible, but it is there and it is our job to search it out. In the case of the poem, the narrator now knows that the warmer seasons will return to again bring joy and life to everyone.